Chapter 104. Those That Climb the Dungeon (3)
I succeeded in evolving my Crown Prince t.i.tle to the Crown Prince of 40F. The rumor that the Crown Prince had appeared on the 40th floor began to spread among other continents" explorers, and my party instantly filled up whenever I created a party. As I hunted the reaper three times every day, I was allowing up to 27 explorers to advance to the 41st floor every day. Of course, this was only in the case that everyone did their jobs and managed to survive. In reality, the number of people that advanced was less than half of that number.
From what I saw, there were about 1,500 people that were stuck on the 40th floor without being able to advance. In other words, after about a hundred days, most of the explorers would have advanced. However, after two weeks, my party stopped being filled up completely.
"They"re content as it is."
An old magician who left his party behind to join mine told me after the raid ended.
"They"ve stayed like this for dozens of years. Imagine if you were in their shoes and you were suddenly given the opportunity to grow. Some will be happy, of course. Some might even tear up and thank you… But there will also be a considerable amount of people that become scared."
"Why?"
"Because the weight on their shoulders would get heavier. The stronger you get, the more responsibility you have to bear. Plus, if you become stronger not by your own strength, but by borrowing someone else"s, you will hit another wall. They don"t want to see others looking at them with expectations, then becoming disappointed."
Swallowing the Soul Strengthening Elixir, I listened to the old man silently. Since I never had the bear the heavy weights they were carrying, I didn"t have the right to say anything.
Getting stuck, breaking through, getting stuck, stuck, stuck. After repeating it for dozens of years, how much did they suffer?
As First Dungeon explorers, which only the most talented people were chosen to become, they undoubtedly received countless looks of envy, jealousy, and expectations. Near the end of their lives, when they realized they would only remain as mediocre warriors, how much shame would they have felt? Not to mention, for dozens of years, they would have only survived without improving… Would any pa.s.sion or courage remain in their hearts? Would they be willing to challenge themselves again? Would they, who understood failure and defeat, be able to endure the expectations they would receive?
I asked the old man.
"Then what"s the reason you came to defeat the reaper with me?"
"Is that even a question?"
The old magician answered with a grin.
"It"s because I"m an explorer."
"Haha."
"I"ve failed a countless number of times, and countless numbers of people, who placed their expectations on me, turned their backs and left. I also just spent my days like the others. I"ve already climbed 40 floors, I"ve done well. Telling myself such excuses, I continued to lie to myself. But then you came. It was then that I snapped out of it. If I didn"t take on the challenge now, I realized I might never get another opportunity. Even if I might end up kneeling somewhere, I want to see what lies beyond this place. I want to let the blood in this old body boil."
The old magician shouted.
"I"ve already experienced it for dozens of years! Even if I fail again, I wouldn"t be losing anything! I"m happy, I"m extremely happy that I can finally get out of this floor! Even if I can"t advance beyond the 41st floor! Even if it might only be an old man"s bravado! I will go on. Because this heart is the only thing that proves that I am an explorer of the First Dungeon! So? Did that answer your question?"
"Of course."
I smiled brightly as I answered. His words pierced deep into my heart, and I couldn"t help but smile.
"You can definitely climb higher. I guarantee it."
"Ha! If Crown Prince is saying that, I will believe it! Hahahaha!"
He laughed wholeheartedly, then he left my party and disappeared.
I had taken a jab when I had least expected it. But I wasn"t displeased in the slightest. In fact, he had fanned my burning heart. Talking with the old magician, I was once again able to think about what a dungeon explorer was.
However, when I left the Floor Master room, I saw Lin with his usual unenthused expression. But, eh? Something about him seemed…
"What"s wrong, Lin? Are you evolving?"
"I"m not evolving, but I"m being promoted."
Lin did not have his usual cigarette as he spoke.
"d.a.m.n it, and it"s as Guild Master"s subst.i.tute… What a headache. This is all your fault."
"Guild Master"s subst.i.tute? What about Loretta?"
When I said that, Lin shot me a glare. His fiery eyes were really burning. How cool. I wondered if I could get a skill like that…?
"Do you know what a huge mess has happened?"
"Of course I don"t. Explain please."
"Ku, for the first time in several hundreds of years, noonim made a request to the Lord personally. To take down the 4,187 puppets in charge of the Floor Shops and to replace them with Fairy Garden and other administrative guild"s members."
"Wow."
I didn"t know Loretta was in charge of 4,187 Floor Shops with her puppets. It must have been tough. While I was trying to digest what I just heard, Lin was continuing his talk.
"Lord has to listen to noonim"s request. She"s done an incredible amount of work for the First Dungeon"s explorers, and she contributed a lot of other administrative duties…"
"Loretta did, huh…"
"She also put in several additional clauses, but what she wants is obvious… She wants to focus on supporting you."
"Eh? Me?"
"Right. Not with a puppet, but with her real body. She wants to exclusively be your supporter. Even though she"s Fairy Garden"s guild master… Well, you are a Hero and the most famous rookie in the dungeon. Plus, since humans have short lifespans, Lord had to accept at least this much. The problem is, I"m the one who has to work more because of you!"
I was wondering why Lin was complimenting me, but he was lashing out instead. Hearing what Lin said about Loretta wanting to support me with her real body, I thought back to her recent confession. To spend her daily life with me, she had made such a move. I couldn"t help but be amazed.
"Hey, let me ask something."
Lin spoke as he stared at me fixedly.
"… Did you do it?"
"D-Do what!? No, I didn"t do anything!"
"So something did happen. I doubt you made the first move, so it was noonim? Haa, how bold of her. She must have gotten impatient… So? What happened?"
"Lin, this was what you wanted to ask from the start, right?"
"Hurry up and answer. What happened? Did you do it?"
"I didn"t do anything! I-It"s on hold!"
Lin looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, then spat on the ground.
"You hopeless b.a.s.t.a.r.d… Do you even have "it"?"
"I do!"
When I answered with a serious expression, Lin simply sighed. Then, he finally took out a cigarette and asked with a more serious voice.
"Don"t make noonim cry. She"s more frail and pure than you"d think. I warned you, alright?"
"I… got it. I got it, so stop glaring at me like that."
"Hmph, I said what I wanted to, so I"m leaving. Good luck further on. Don"t die and don"t fall. From what I can see, you"re one of the few with potential in this entire dungeon, so don"t lose your spirit no matter who you"re up against. Got it?"
"… Thanks, Lin. Good luck too, being the guild master subst.i.tute."
"Argh… Yeah. I"m off."
Lin faded away. I stared fixedly at the place he was standing, then turned away. I could still hunt the reaper one more time. The grind wasn"t over yet. However, someone interrupted me. It was Ye-Eun.
[I broke through the 20th floor!]
"You"re getting faster and faster. Did you do it solo?"
[Yeah! This guy tries to act cool, but he"s super weak. After being beaten up, he used something called Dragon Skin and kept slamming the ground with his spear, but he couldn"t do anything when I just stayed glued to the ceiling.]
So you could do that! No, ordinary explorers wouldn"t be able to stay on the ceiling on for that long! As I thought, Ye-Eun had a natural talent as an a.s.sa.s.sin. Thinking that she might actually catch up to me, I asked.
"Have you tried using Deific Manifestation?"
[Y-Yeah.]
"… Why is your voice shaking?"
[Scary. Deific Manifestation is scary.]
"Why!? What"s scary!?"
[It hurts. Training is too hard.]
She was talking in short phrases like a kid. It must have been really difficult… Even while I was feeling troubled, I tried to act calm.
"You must have met a good teacher."
[She"s a vicious woman. Shin, save me. I want to see you so much.]
"We can see each other soon. Once you clear up to the 25th floor, we can go out for a drink."
[Really? Okay, I"ll try my best! I"ll hurry!]
"Yeah, good luck. Ah, what magic did you get on the 10th floor? Did you also get Spirit Mastery?"
Although I thought Spirit Mastery was prepared for my Elementalist abilities, the solo clear rewards seemed to be fixed. From the rewards Ren told me about and with Ye-Eun also getting Deific Manifestation on the 5th floor, I was pretty sure of it. However, what Ye-Eun said next surprised me.
[Ah, I got something called Shadowsword Mastery. It"s super fun! If I hold my dagger and attack, my shadow attacks one more time! Or I can add my shadow"s power to me directly and hit harder! It"s super good!]
"What, that"s so cool!"
So the 10th floor reward was different! It was the perfect skill for Ye-Eun who was focused on attacking. Even while I was writhing in jealousy, I tried to act cool and congratulated her.
[Shin, what floor are you in now?]
"I"m grinding on the 40th floor."
[Then I"ll catch up soon!]
"We"ll see. If you look down on the dungeon, you"ll regret it. Be careful."
[I, I don"t look down on it. I really don"t. Uk, I"ll get scolded again. Master will scold me.]
"Just who did you summon…?"
Even I felt slight fear at Ye-Eun"s master that I had not met yet.
Author"s notes: N/A
Chapter 105. Those That Climb the Dungeon (4)
When I went to the Floor Shop the next day, I saw a beautiful elf. Long, black hair that flowed down, and golden pupils that shone brilliantly. Voluptuous chest and contrasting slender arms, legs, and waist. Without a doubt, it was Loretta, the real Loretta. The moment she saw me, she flapped her long ears excitedly. I wondered if elves could fly using their ears.
"My, what a coincidence seeing you here, Shin-nim."
"How shameless, Loretta. Lin already told me everything."
Loretta narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
"Even if it"s the same meaning, can"t you use the expression "cute"?"
"If I say cute, you"ll get startled and be noticeably happy, so I won"t."
"… Tsk."
Loretta clicked her tongue and turned away. It was much cuter than her shameless words from before, but I didn"t say it out loud. If I did, she would be happy and blush, and I would be even more fl.u.s.tered. Loretta let out a dry cough and continued.
"40th floor, the Grim Reaper. Since you got the first achievement, are you in the middle of completely conquering him?"
"Yep. I memorized all of his patterns, so killing him is pretty easy now."
"This is the first time I heard anyone say that it"s easy to kill the reaper. You could"ve done it after hitting level 45…"
"No, I won"t do that anymore."
At Loretta"s words, I answered her with such speed that even I was surprised.
"I want to grow my abilities. Not just my stats, but the overall abilities. Because I want to get stronger."
"… If that"s what you want, I will, of course, support you from behind. From now, I will be directly supporting you, so do your best, Shin-nim."
"With Loretta helping me, I feel a.s.sured. I"ll be sure not to let Loretta down."
At my words, Loretta puffed out her chest and grinned. Then, I waved my hand at Loretta wishing me victory, and walked to hunt the reaper again. Of course, I wasn"t afraid of him anymore.
Three weeks later, I finished consuming Soul Strengthening Elixirs and finished collecting the Grim Reaper Set. The Grim Reaper"s Deathscythe was given to the Gluttony Spear, raising its growth by 1%. With that, it was now at 3%. Since I"ve been told the spear would not grow from eating the same weapon more than once, I did not give it another one.
[Your soul becomes clear and strengthened to the peak. Your magic and charm increase by 3. Additionally, your luck increases by 5.]
[You equipped the Grim reaper Set. Your strength and magic increase by 20. When the Grim Reaper Set is equipped, you can use "Shadow Blink" once per day. Shadow Blink teleports you behind a target and delivers a sudden strike. This attack will always be a critical hit.]
The Grim Reaper Set was made out of tattered cloth resembling the one the Grim Reaper was wearing. In fact, I looked so much like the Grim Reaper, I almost took my weapon out. However, its defense was incredibly sad compared to Crimson Dragon Scale Armor and even the Dullahan Set, so I extracted the skill and stored it in the 8 o"clock position, then stored the Grim Reaper Set for next year"s Halloween party.
While I was grinding on the 40th floor, Ren had begun grinding on the 35th floor. Surprisingly, Palludia"s party joined Ellos" party, and had reached the 33rd floor in a short period of time. They both didn"t want to party with explorers from other continents, so I wondered what had gotten into them. However, I somewhat suspected that I had an influence on their alliance.
What was more surprising was that Shina had contacted me.
[Oppa, I broke through the 30th floor!]
"Oooh, that"s was fast. Congratulations."
[I already heard from unni that oppa broke through the 40th floor.]
"Unni? Oh, right, Palludia. You should have told me when we first met."
[But I wanted to surprise oppa by telling oppa later. But I didn"t think unni would charge forward so quickly…]
"I can hear you."
[Of course, I was trying to let you hear! It was a roundabout declaration of war. I don"t have a residence yet, but my b.r.e.a.s.t.s are a lot bigger than unni"s! I have the compet.i.tive edge. Not to mention, I"m honest unlike unni. So? Charming, right?]
"I already knew you were charming. But you"re not a good match for me."
[I… can I cry, oppa? If I"m not charming to oppa, there"s no point in being charming at all.]
I made a bitter smile and replied.
"There are many better men than me. Something must have been wrong with your eyes."
[I trust my eye"s ability, but I like oppa regardless!]
Just like Palludia said, Shina was claiming that she liked me. Although Palludia told me not to believe Shina, as I couldn"t look into Shina"s heart, I couldn"t make a judgement thoughtlessly. As such, this was what I said.
"Yeah, then do your best to catch up to where I am. We have to be face to face if we want to talk. You didn"t forget how I looked like, right?"
[I didn"t! I think about you every night, really! Prepare yourself, the party member I recruited this time is extremely strong, so we"ll catch up to you quickly!]
"Party member?"
I suddenly felt uneasy again.
[Huhu, oppa might know her already. An explorer from Earth has been famous in the lower floors lately. She"s called the Shadow Witch! She got her fame by helping beginner explorers advance to the 6th floor for about two weeks, but she appeared in the Residential Area just a few days ago! I"ve never heard of an explorer with such quick growth! I didn"t miss this opportunity and recruited her into my party.]
[You see, this person is really, really strong! She might not even need party members. She"s that strong! We challenged the 30th Floor Master together, but while we barely held the skeletons back, she practically toyed with the Skeleton Knight. She then said it was slightly easier than when she defeated it alone.]
"… If she"s that strong, why did she enter your party?"
[I don"t know. She said she"s going to enter the party of the guy she likes, and said she"d party with us as practice.]
"Ah, I see. Good luck together."
Ye-Eun, she already broke through the 30th floor! If I didn"t hurry, she might really catch up to me. I was burning with fighting spirit. I cheered her on a bit, then walked to the staircase to the 41st floor, thinking I was going to have to take Ye-Eun out for fries soon. After all, she had already pa.s.sed the 25th floor. Father had also pa.s.sed level 50 and was bragging about becoming Gold rank, but I didn"t care.
From the 41st floor, I was free from the undead. Zombies, ghouls, skeletons, and ghosts. I was happy to be finally freed from the rotting smell of flesh, but this happiness did not last long.
The 41st floor"s monsters were wolves. They emitted the smell of wild animals and pounced at me from all directions. I was almost starting to miss the zombies. Plus, the 41st through 45th floor were all filled with wolves, just with different fur color and species. There were the direwolves, large wolves that easily pa.s.sed 2.3 meters in size. Then, there were the werewolves, which were wolves standing on their hind legs. Other than the werewolves, all of the wolves were bigger and stronger than the materialized Ruyue. However, she was still faster, making them a good match.
Although Ruyue fought well, I wasn"t used to fighting beast-type monsters, so it took a while for me to get used to them. In the end, it wasn"t so different in that I had to dodge their attacks and attack when they had openings.
As a result, I reached the 45th Floor Master in just four days.
[Krrrrr…]
Loretta said that 45th and 50th Floor Master battles will be a pure fight of strength against strength. I believed her, but I didn"t think that strength was referring to size.
"He"s over 10 meters long…"
Although the Giant Iron Boar I met in Guangzhou was much bigger in comparison, I could still barely look at its face when I tilted my head up to the limit. In terms of spirit, the black furred wolf well overwhelmed the Giant Iron Boar.
The 45th Field was a wasteland. The black wolf was sitting in the middle of the wasteland with his legs folded and his eyes closed. When I approached him and raised my Gluttony Spear, his eyes shot open. The presence emanating out from him at that moment was incredibly overwhelming, making me burst into smiles.
"Good, I"ll have to fight large monsters like this often on Earth. I"ll train myself using you."
[Krrrrr…!]
The wolf moved its front leg forward and lowered its body. He seemed to be preparing to charge at me. With his weight and speed, the force of impact would be enormous. I also lowered my body on Ruyue"s back and prepared to charge forward. I whispered to Ruyue.
"I"m trusting you, Ruyue. Let"s do this."
[Auuuuuuuuu!]
At that moment, Ruyue charged forward before the giant wolf.
[Gruaaaaang!]
The giant wolf also charged towards us. When he stepped forward, a sandstorm brewed in the wasteland, blocking my sight. I left Ruyue in charge of our movement and focused on pinpointing his location and his method of attack.
"Ruyue, jump diagonally."
[Auuuu!]
I held my Gluttony Spear horizontally and activated Elemental Blade. I held the spear with both my hands like a baseball bat, and when Ruyue had leapt past giant wolf"s thigh, I swung the spear with full force.
[Critical Hit!]
[Kuaaaang!]
A stream of blood shot out into the air and the giant wolf screamed. What I didn"t expect was that it would somehow detect where we were and swing his tail at us like a whip! Ruyue hastily poured out her Ice Breath and threw her body to the side. However, his tail, which seemed like it would get stuck at Ruyue"s Ice Breath, became bigger and swept over us. It had made its already huge tail even bigger! I gritted my teeth and shouted.
"Shadow Blink!"
Ruyue and I were instantly teleported behind the giant wolf"s neck.
[Krr?]
The giant wolf made a stupefied sound and turned its head to face us. In the process, his body turned to the other direction, and he turned his head again. His body then turned the other direction again. He slowly began to spin in circles. Thankfully, it seemed he still had the intelligence of a beast.
Meanwhile, I was focusing my energy on the spear tip for the critical damage that Shadow Blink guaranteed. Just like always, I raised my spear that had turned into a white bolt of lightning from Peika"s power and my white-colored aura, striking down at the giant wolf"s neck.
[Critical Hit!]
[Kiaaaaaaa!]
Blood spurted out from the area the spear struck, splashing onto me and Ruyue. It seemed to have felt immense pain from the attack, as it began to jump wildly to shake me off of him. With my face half-covered in blood, I gritted my teeth and raised my spear again, shouting, "Ruyue, hold on!"
[Okay!]
Ruyue stretched out her claws and stuck onto the giant wolf, and I wrapped my legs around Ruyue. Now that we were in a favorable position, I had no intention of getting off!
[Auu.]
"Ruyue, hold on just a little bit longer!"
[Auuu….!]
Something seemed to be wrong with Ruyue, so I decided to take care of the giant wolf swiftly.
"White Lightning Consecutive Strike!"
A barrage of spear attacks struck the hole created by my Heroic Strike, expanding it. Red blood continued to splash onto me, but it wasn"t enough to interrupt my concentration. The only thing in my sight was the hole I had to dig deeper.
[Kuaaaang!]
Although I would have liked to attack him like this until he died, it was, of course, not so easy. Before my White Lightning Consecutive Strike could even end, the giant wolf let out a loud howl, then began to roll to the side. Shoot! I quickly canceled the skill and stuck to Ruyue.
"Ruyue, let"s jump off!"
[Okay!]
Before Ruyue and I became crushed paste, Ruyue leapt off his back and landed on the ground. Noticing that Ruyue and I had left, the giant wolf stopped rolling and raised its body. Then, it gave me a deathly glare.
[Kruaaang!]
[Giant Wolf uses Blood Howling! All of Giant Wolf"s defense is converted to attack power!]
It was actually called Giant Wolf!? No, now was not the time. Its fur dyed red. At the same time, its front paws expanded to an unnatural size. Right, a fight of pure strength against strength… I was glad that it was so simple. I curled the corners of my mouth up and strengthened the grip on my Gluttony Spear.
"Fight me, you fat wolf b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
[Guoooooo!]
Author"s notes: N/A
Chapter 106. Those That Climb the Dungeon (5)
[Guooooooo!]
With an earthshaking roar, he charged forward. He was far faster than he had been previously, and taking his enlarged front paws into account, I could only barely dodge his attacks.
"Ruyue, focus on evading him. I"ll do the attacking!"
[Auuuu!]
Other than Floor Master skills, Elemental Blade was the only way for me to attack without taking any recoil damage. Being glad that I managed to obtain this skill, I called elementals into my spear blade again. Drinking Mana Potions as I used skills was now as natural as breathing.
[Kyaa, Prince-nim"s serious face! So cool!]
[When is the roller coaster taking off?]
[Where"s the seat belt? Do I grab the spear blade?]
[Ueee… I got on again, I"m going to throw up again!]
Ignoring the elementals" voices, I swung my 10-meter long spear as I glanced past the Giant Wolf. Its colossal front paw was cut and blood spurted out like a fountain. The moment Ruyue landed on the ground, she ran. Immediately afterwards, the wolf"s hind leg stomped the area we landed.
[Aoooo!]
"It really is just like fighting a monstrous beast!"
I fixed my grip on Gluttony Spear and called the elementals again. With his size, it was impossible to take care of him quickly. I had already expected that the battle would drag out. Ruyue changed her direction and continued running. My target had not changed. It was still wolf"s giant front paws that had become easy targets!
[Guaaaaaa!]
[Front paw is coming!]
Looking at the Giant Wolf"s eyes burning with rage from the corner of my eyes, I raised my spear again. His giant front paw cut through the air and flew toward me. As I was sure just one hit would be enough to pierce my tough armor and deal a fatal blow, I laughed even louder.
"With just that… you can"t catch me!"
Ruyue jumped, and I jumped from Ruyue"s back. Unable to predict my movement, the Giant Wolf"s front paw only swung past my feet. At that moment, I struck my spear down with all the strength I could muster. The elemental spear blade easily pierced its leather, which had lost its defensive power. Digging deep into the front paw, the elemental blade then exploded.
[Critical Hit!]
[Kuooooooo!]
"Ruyue!"
[Auuuu!]
After recovering my spear, I landed on the back of Ruyue, who was waiting for me on the ground. However, I didn"t have the time to leisurely check the result of my attack. The Giant Wolf raised all the hair on its body with rage and was running toward me. I couldn"t let him hit me even once. I couldn"t waste a week because of something so stupid.
Raising my spear and striking down on the ground, I shouted.
"Outburst!"
Crack! The wasteland fissured and rock shards rose, flying toward the Giant Wolf, who was running towards me with vigor. Although it couldn"t be compared to when Dullahan used it, hundreds of flying rock shards hurtling towards the Giant Wolf was a sight to behold.
With the area I struck my spear down on as the center, the ground rumbled and large rock shards shot up, flying toward the Giant Wolf. They were fast, numerous, and strong. It was the second attack skill among Floor Master skills, and I had great expectations for it. Its strength was better than what I had imagined.
[Critical Hit!]
[Critical Hit!]
As the Giant Wolf was charging forward with great speed, it could not dodge the numerous rock shards and received them with his body. With his defensive power lacking from the skill he used, blood spurted out wherever the rock shards struck him. Now that I thought about it, as long as I wasn"t hit by him, there was no reason to fear his skill.
[Guaaaaaaa!]
Its dark red blood splashed on his already red fur, and dyed it in a darker red. However, it did not falter and continued charging. With how big it was, it had a frightening amount of life force. Any other Floor Master would have been in dire straits from the loss of blood, but he only looked slightly weaker. What was important in fighting a ma.s.sive monster was continued concentration and patience to continue attacking him until he died. I learned something important.
"Ruyue, let"s go, cut off his front paw entirely!"
[Auuuuuu!]
30 minutes after that, the moment I was waiting for had finally arrived. As a result of focusing my attacks on it, its enlarged front paw had finally been severed from his body.
[Kuooooooo!]
He let out a heaven shattering scream and rolled on the ground. At the same time, his front paw disappeared into particles of light. With a grin, I fixed my grip on my spear. Having lost one of its front paws, he had lost both speed and strength. He could no longer even give a moment of thrill.
"Ruyue, let"s hurry up and finish this."
[Auuuuu!]
Ruyue charged forward. As Ruyue and I already shared our thoughts, Ruyue brought me to the destination I desired without me having to tell her. I raised my spear and collected my energy. I woke up my sleeping muscles and squeezed out strength from them. The Giant Wolf was still struggling to raise its body. Using the white lightning that formed in my hand, I aimed at the Giant Wolf"s neck, the place I had drilled a hole in with Shadow Blink.
Then, I thrust forward.
[You became level 46. You obtained the qualification to advance to the 46th floor.]
[You obtained 5 bonus stats.]
[You became Silver rank 2.]
[Amazing! You are the first in First Dungeon"s history to succeed in soloing the Giant Wolf on the first try! The dungeon will remember you as a Great Explorer. You obtained 2 skill point as reward. G.o.ds that love battles and wars begin to become interested in you. Remaining skill points: 18]
[You obtained the t.i.tle, "Giant Wolf Master." All stats increase by 2. This effect will apply even if the t.i.tle is not equipped.]
[You defeated the Giant Wolf alone. You obtained the special reward, "Giant Wolf"s Blood Hat."]
[You obtained 200,000 gold.]
[You received the only reward left hidden for the First Explorer. Congratulations! Your luck stat increases by 1.]
[Secret. Giant Wolf"s Tattoo]
Really, compared to the Grim Reaper, the Giant Wolf was laughably easy. The Grim Reaper had several attacks that could hit me in ways I least expected, but for the Giant Wolf, there was nothing I had to be afraid of other than this body enlarging skill and skill that turned his defense into offense. I would remember him as the easiest boss along with the Wraith Queen.
As always, I asked message noona to open the message log and read the list of messages. There were two noteworthy things. First was that G.o.ds who liked battles and wars began to grow interested in me. Did this mean I was close to getting another G.o.d"s true name? Hermes" Talaria was already very useful. No, did I even have the capacity to accept the power of another G.o.d"s true name?"
I thought seriously for a while, but realized there was no need to worry about something that would happen in the future. In fact, I might be completely mistaken. I decided to consider the matter later, and moved on to the next matter.
The secret reward, Giant Wolf"s Tattoo. It was clearly not a magic or a skill. Since experiencing it would be faster, I reached forward toward the reward. At that moment, something emanating a blue light flowed into my arm and traveled down to my legs. I hurriedly took my armor off and checked my legs. Runic patterns were engraved from my thighs to my calves, glowing with a blue light.
[You obtained Giant Wolf"s Tattoo. You speed increases by 15% and increases the attack power of all charge type skills by 50%.]
"Wow…"
Although I didn"t even have any rush-type skills, I would have a 110% attack power increase with Crimson Dragon Scale Armor"s 60% increase. Now that things had come to this, I would really need to look around to see if I can get myself a charge type skill. Plus, there was the 15% speed increase! It was equivalent to the effect of my G.o.d"s true name! Of course, 15% speed increase wasn"t the only effect Hermes had, but I was surprised nonetheless.
But d.a.m.n, I would not be living in a world 30% faster than everyone else. Just the first 15% was hard to get used to, but I had gotten another 15%… It would be troublesome to get used to it.
I complained in complete happiness and left the Floor Master room. Behind the Floor Shop counter, Loretta, who was lying on the bed she prepared and reading a book, got up slowly after seeing me, and greeted me.
"Oh, you"re already here?"
"Loretta does things I can"t even imagine so easily. It makes me tremble, though, not in respect."
"I"m thinking about building a portable house. By the way Shin-nim, your body"s balance seems a little off."
When I told her the effects of Giant Wolf"s Tattoo, she stared at my legs, as if to see through my armor, then nodded her head.
"I can"t see it, so take it off and show me."
"I won"t show you! What are you asking for so naturally!?"
"Tsk, he almost fell for it…"
Loretta clicked her tongue as if she was close. Then, after a dry cough, she advised me.
"If you want to obtain a charge type skill, why don"t you try looking for it at the Residential Area? Not all skills are automatically acquired like the Floor Master solo rewards. The skill books that Event Dungeon bosses drop or given from quest rewards are exchangeable. Shin-nim, you"re overflowing with gold anyways, right? You don"t buy anything from the Floor Shop other than potions, battle vouchers, and Party Member Scarecrows… I came all the way here to support Shin-nim, but you don"t use me very often. I"m sad."
"Potions, battle vouchers, and Party Member Scarecrows, that"s a lot. I"m using tens of thousands of gold per day… Anyways, I"ll be off."
"Take me with you! I"m bored."
Loretta flapped her ears and jumped out from the bed, locking her arms with mine. I tried to ignore Loretta"s fragrance and the shocking sensation in my arm, but it wasn"t easy.
"It"s hot, so get off."
"I know you"re not hot, so let"s go like this. Come on!"
"This person, there"s no sense of distance these days…"
Now that Loretta had stuck onto me, there was no way to get her off. I resigned and went to the Residential Area. When I arrived at the entrance of my mansion, I saw the corpse of the Giant Iron Boar, which was still left neglected on the garden. I"m sorry, Giant Iron Boar. I want to eat you, but I"m busy finishing the melting tunas in my inventory…
While I was silenting looking at the Giant Iron Boar, Loretta let out an exclamation of surprise and knocked on the Giant Iron Boar"s metallic legs.
"It"s the type that got stronger after death. Do you have a necromancer friend, Shin-nim?"
"Huh? What?"
"You"re fermenting it, right? It was originally weak, but a strong lightning energy was imbued into it the moment it died. Not to mention, this place is where the entrance to Fairy Garden is, meaning it"s full of elementals. Lightning energy is building up in its body, compressing its body and amplifying its energy. If you leave him like this, he"ll become a great undead for sure. One that"s much stronger than he was when he was alive."
No, it said it wouldn"t rot, so I was just storing my food supply here… Not that I could tell her that. Now that I looked at it, its 70-meter long body length was now about 60 meters long. Its hair that was burnt black also seemed to be flickering with sparks…
I smiled nonchalantly.
"Hahaha, let"s go out, Loretta!"
"So it was a coincidence…"
Maybe I"ll learn necromancy later! I pa.s.sed it off as something trivial for now and dragged Loretta outside the mansion to the Residential Area. Left behind in the garden was the Giant Iron Boar"s corpse, admirably fermenting itself.
Author"s Note:
Alright, let"s go! With this spirit, we"ll quickly clear the 50th floor!