Chapter 158 – Casting Vote(4)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
The human race never stopped progressing.
This was especially true for the players.
Dungeons which needed at least 100 players to clear them in 2020, only needed half that amount by 2024.
-Could 10 players defeat a dungeon with 100 maximum entries?
?Isn’t the record a 28 man party?
? In terms of ratio, wouldn’t the best record be those 33 players who cleared a 122 man 3 Floor dungeon?
How many players did one need to clear a dungeon?
In order to break the record, there were teams of players who targeted low ranked dungeons that had high maximum entries.
Of course, there were times when they overestimated their abilities and lost their lives in a failed attempt, but there was no one who criticized or laughed at their actions.
-But why would you do such a crazy thing? It would increase the chances of clearing if you fill the maximum number of entries, wouldn’t it?
?It’s a great challenge.
? It’s better to clear three to four dungeons a year with a small group than wait for people.
It was natural that people paid more attention to those players who risked their lives to clear dungeons in any way possible rather than simply enjoying the rights and benefits.
Therefore, most applauded these challengers.
They felt that the more reckless the challenge, the more n.o.ble the challengers.
However, this time was different.
-Look! Isaac Ivanov is attacking a dungeon alone!
The world was shocked to hear that Isaac Ivanov was going to attack the dungeon on his own without the help of other guilds.
No, they weren’t surprised at first.
-What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?
-Cut the c.r.a.p!
Instead, they didn’t believe it.
However, after the news was released repeatedly along with additional reports, their disbelief slowly morphed into shock.
-No way, soloing a Hatchling?
-No, I know Isaac Ivanov is amazing, but his opponent this time is a hatchling! How can he handle that on his own?
-Not alone, isn’t he a part of a team of two?
?Didn’t he get a new teammate?
No one expected him to challenge the infamous Hatchling with nothing but his own party.
Naturally, it was almost impossible for them to believe that this attack would succeed.
-We have to stop him from doing this.
-Does anybody have Isaac Ivanov’s number?
?Wouldn’t the Choco Pie company have it?
? Hey, are you joking right now?
? I’m not joking. Considered the amount of Choco Pies that we send to Isaac Ivanov, the truck must deliver them to him every day. Wouldn’t they have to contact him in advance?
? It actually makes sense.
Because of this, the public opinion began to flow in the direction that they had to stop Isaac Ivanov from attacking the dungeon somehow.
Amid such public opinion, Isaac Ivanov released a piece of news.
[Isaac Ivanov recruits a new teammate!]
[His new teammate is a member of the Phoenix Guild?]
That was it.
[Isaac Ivanov enters the dungeon!]
And with just that piece of news, Isaac Ivanov began the dungeon attack.
…
[Survive for 5 days to proceed to the next floor.]
“Ah.”
When Lee Jin-ah heard the appearance of the notification which announced the requirements to clear the first floor of the dungeon, he let out a sigh.
“It’s really gonna be a two man challenge.”
With another sigh, Lee Jin-ah turned to look at Kim Woo-jin who was standing beside him with an arm around his shoulder.
Of course, it wasn’t actually Kim Woo-jin.
Rattle!
And it was soon revealed that the Kim Woo-jin who was on his shoulder was actually a Skeleton Soldier.
Lee Jin-ah had entered the dungeon together with the Skeleton Soldier.
“I didn’t expect this to actually work.”
It was impossible for the Skeleton Soldier to enter the dungeon gate by itself even if it was recognized as an item.
However, if the Skeleton Soldier belonged to a player and was carried into the dungeon gate, it would be considered an item.
However, since the number of items that the Skeleton Soldier wore would be added to the player which meant that they couldn’t wear other items.
Meaning that the player couldn’t use this method to carry additional items.
“It really looks like you.”
However, the fact that he could enter the dungeon with this ‘Kim Woo-jin’ who had perfectly copied everything down to his height could go without saying.
“Even the nose hair is the same.”
Kim Woo-jin called out to Lee Jin-ah, who had his fingers in the nostrils of the Skeleton Soldier, perfectly disguised as Kim Woo-jin.
“Lee Jin-ah.”
“Whew.”
At that moment, Lee Jin-ah let out a long sigh.
“Right, should I go lure the monsters?”
He moved, accepting the fact that his hards.h.i.+ps were about to begin.
However, Kim Woo-jin told him something completely unexpected.
“Conserve your strength till the third floor.”
“Huh?”
“I will handle everything until then.”
Along with those words, Kim Woo-jin immediately summoned the Book of the Dead and released a Skeleton Soldier.
The headless Skeleton Soldier created from the Dullahan appeared before them.
[Blackbone has been activated.]
At that time, the bones of the Dullahan Skeleton Soldier slowly began to turn black.
After that, Kim Woo-jin immediately began to release all the undead monsters from the Book of the Dead.
The Golden Lion and Ogre Skeleton Soldiers as well as the Skeleton Knights and Skeleton Wolves all appeared.
“What the h.e.l.l are you up to?”
Kim Woo-jin answered the question calmly.
“Make as many bodies as I can.”
With those words, Kim Woo-jin’s eyes became blue.
…
For players, January was the hottest year.
The heat was created by the players scrambling to carry out the large projects that they planned since before the new year.
However, January 2024 was different.
[Isaac Ivanov challenges the Hatchling Dungeon solo!]
[Can Isaac Ivanov make a dream a reality?]
[Who is Isaac Ivanov’s new companion?]
There was no news that could be hotter than the fact that Isaac Ivanov was attacking the Hatchling Dungeon with just a three person party.
-Isaac covers everything.
?He even covered the news of the top five guilds attacking 6 Floor dungeons.
Even the news of the top five guilds attacking 6 Floor dungeon was buried by his news.
-The top five guilds are probably tired of it by now, aren’t they? Isn’t this the first time in history that they were treated like bridesmaids?
?They brought it upon themselves. This wouldn’t have happened if they had gone to attack their dungeons before Isaac Ivanov.
?Mhm, all they had to do was attack first.
It would be strange if the top five guilds, who were used to being the main lead, didn’t feel a bit of pain after being relegated to a side character.
However, the top five guilds did not ignore Isaac Ivanov’s actions, even though it made them uncomfortable.
Instead, the top five guilds were more interested in Isaac Ivanov’s movements than anyone else at that moment and discussed it.
Of course, it wasn’t like they were like cheering for Isaac Ivanov or praying for his success.
“If Isaac Ivanov fails, what legendary items will be left?”
“King Arthur’s Ring, Merlin’s Staff, Van Gogh’s Bracelet, Wilhelm Tell’s Crossbow… and I’m sure there are at least two more.”
“Many of Isaac Ivanov’s items are equipped with at least unique items.”
What they were discussing was the plan after Isaac Ivanov’s death.
“It’s enough for us to all have at least one legendary item.”
“Among those items are quite a few high grade legendary items. There’s no reason for us to not work together to obtain these items.”
“The Messiah Guild won’t act arrogantly in this situation. It was worth it for our five guilds to have this meeting.”
The large guilds, especially the top five guilds, began preparing to attack the Hatchling Dungeon after Isaac Ivanov’s death.
In other words, none of them believed that Isaac Ivanov would succeed.
It was a valid thought.
“The one thing that we can be sure of, is that Isaac Ivanov will fail.”
“Even if it’s Isaac Ivanov, it’s impossible to clear an A+ rank dungeon, especially one with a Hatchling as the boss, with only three people.”
“It doesn’t make sense for him to add one more teammate.”
“It doesn’t change anything. No matter how hard I try, I cannot think of a way for three people to clear a Hatchling Dungeon.”
Everyone believed that there wasn’t an answer.
‘Bulls.h.i.+t.’
On the second day after entering the dungeon, Lee Jin-ah realised that there wasn’t an answer.
‘There is no answer with this guy, Kim Woo-jin.’
He was beginning to realise that from now on, he would entrust his fate to Kim Woo-jin who was summoning Skeleton Soldiers in front of him.
That was all it was.
Kim Woo-jin’s full-fledged performance had once again shocked Lee Jin-ah, who was watching from the side.
First, the number of Skeleton Soldiers was different.
Rattle!
The sight of 90 black skeletons rus.h.i.+ng towards the monster was reminiscent of the waves of a tsunami.
Rattle!
In addition, the Skeleton Soldiers made from the Golden Lion, Ogre and Dullahan skeletons were all equipped with unique items and displayed a terrifying amount of power.
[The effect of Ruler of Battlefield stacks.]
And the most terrifying part was that the intensity of the tsunami created by the skeleton army increased as they fought more battles.
Kyaha!
And in the middle of this tsunami was the Skeleton Knight which acted as a general leading his army.
The Skeleton Knight with Percival’s Spear in one hand and Bor’s s.h.i.+eld in the other, killed the monsters without hesitation.
And it wasn’t just one Skeleton Knight.
Kyaha!
Kyaha!
The Skeleton Knights, which had increased to three after the skill rank had been increased, destroyed the monsters as though they were competing for kills.
There was also a new figure that had an overwhelming aura.
Hyaha!
It was none other than a Skeleton Mage who had finally made its appearance.
There were only two of them.
Hyaha!
Nevertheless, these two Skeleton Mages who wore robes and let out bizarre cries, revealed their presence through the basketball sized fireb.a.l.l.s that appeared in their hands.
Fwoom!
Fwoom!
Throwing these b.a.l.l.s of flames forward, they caused the chaotic scene to become h.e.l.lish.
Rather, it was the Golem and Fire Golem who failed to reveal their presence in this situation.
But they weren’t weak.
Thud!
Thud!
It was just that the monsters who faced the skeleton army were too weak to keep up with the pace of the battle.
That was it.
‘This should be enough.’
Even after wiping out these monsters, he still had power left over.
Kim Woo-jin’s current best performance was so powerful and overwhelming.
‘At this rate I should be equal or slightly superior to Hatchling.’
In addition, Kim Woo-jin was sure that his current power was sufficient to fight the Hatchling.
He couldn’t be sure of the odds, and the odds were that it would be a fierce battle where he would suffer some damage, but even that alone was amazing.
Moreover, this was the judgment made by Kim Woo-jin who had hunted the second most Dragons after the Dragon Slayer before returning to the past, so the accuracy of his estimation went without saying.
‘Well, I guess I’ll have to use that.’
But that was not Kim Woo-jin’s idea of a good dungeon of attack.
Kim Woo-jin had no intentions of taking part in a fierce battle where he could not be sure of his victory and so he decided to give himself some a.s.surance.
That was why Kim Woo-jin decided to wear something.
[You have equipped Van Gogh’s Bracelet.]
[Increases the number of rings you can wear.]
[You gained the achievement ‘Van Gogh’s Power’.]
[Inventory increased by 5 s.p.a.ces due to the effect of the achievement ‘Van Gogh’s Power.]
Van Gogh’s Bracelet!
The moment he equipped it, the bracelet was absorbed into Kim Woo-jin’s wrist and became a tattoo.
[King Arthur’s Ring can no longer be removed.]
And the ring on his little finger also became a tattoo.
At that moment, Kim Woo-jin took Hercules’ Ring from his inventory and placed it on his fourth finger.
[You have equipped Hercules’ Ring.]
[Ability increased due to the achievements gained.]
[All damage increased by 10%.]
[Health and Stamina increased by 150.]
Rattle!
At that moment, the Skeleton Soldiers seemed to react as though they were influenced by their master’s increase in power.
Kyaha!
Hyaha!
The Skeleton Knights and Skeleton Mages also stopped fighting for a moment and trembled at the great strength flowing into their bodies.
It was as though they were intoxicated by the power flowing from their master.
‘Not bad.’
Kim Woo-jin also let out a smile at the new power rising within his body.
[The Emissary of the Underworld is happy with your decision.]
And his halo, who also favored him greatly, also cheered at Kim Woo-jin’s increase in power.
[The Emissary of the Underworld sent you a special gift.]
And of course it didn’t forget to send him a present.
When he saw that, Kim Woo-jin’s smile became deeper.
(Note:
[Blackbone]
– Rank: E
– Effect: Increases the skeleton’s defense greatly.
TL: someone needs to ban that sugar daddy halo…)