Episode 29

Usually, in games or fantasy novels, the protagonist must fight countless enemies and pass through obstacles that appeared unreasonably difficult, no matter how others would see it.

[Clear time limit – 16:39:11]

“But this is only settled after I clear the dungeon, right? What if I don’t?”

“After coming this far, you can’t back down now! If you get past them, there’s only the boss room in front of you, right?”

Soo Ah-rin was frustrated. In her eyes, Jung Si-woo was worthy enough to be the main character of this story! At the start, he had fought one-on-one with an armored orc and had struggled for a long time. Now, just a few days later, he was making three elite armored orc centurions struggle against him!

[Gaaargh!]

[Kill him, the devil who destroyed our troops!]

[Who has raised such a warrior among humans?!]

‘It’s you; you’re the ones who’ve trained him!’

Soo Ah-rin shouted internally. Jung Si-woo’s fighting style had changed quite a bit, and Soo Ah-rin knew why.

“One done!”

[Simon, oh no!]

“I swear every orc in here is named Simon!”

The sledgehammer spun round and round, speeding up. Suddenly, it sliced through the air like lightning to smash the head of an elite orc. It seemed like the hammer’s movement was affected by mana, even though it wasn’t. Jung Si-woo had quickly adapted to his skills being enhanced with mana, and it was reflected in his battle style. The first orc Jung Si-woo fought told him he needed to combine his mana and combat skills together. Now that he was constantly battling orcs, he was discovering new skills within himself!

That orc never realized Jung Si-woo would be able to adapt to his skills so quickly. He had been surprised by Jung Si-woo’s monstrous power but never recognized his real talent.

[I will avenge Simon’s death by killing you!]

[How dare you kill our comrades like that!]

“When you die, you die. Does it really matter how you go?”

Of course, Jung Si-woo had no intention of dying here. He was gradually figuring out his style with the sledgehammer and adjusted his grip.

‘If I work a little harder on combining my mana and skills, maybe I can create a new passive skill.’

However, this wasn’t challenging enough. In fact, the orc centurions’ attacks had become predictable, so fighting them wasn’t helping him improve, even when he took on three at a time. But, what else could he do…?

“Do I have to battle your Chief to gain proper experience?”

[Do you really think you can reach Chief Chun?]

“Why, of course!”

[Kaaaggghhh!]

Armored orcs lived for the pure joy of combat and reveled in the rush of the battle, but they also tended to be a bit careless. With this, the orc got fired-up at talk of his commander, and Jung Si-woo — who saw a weak spot other players usually missed — saw no reason not to score a critical hit.

“You are the only one left. Rest assured, you’ll be seeing your friends again soon enough.”

[These…my friends…]

The orc swung its gaze over the corpses of his former companions, who sported freshly broken heads. Jung Si-woo looked past the orc to the path leading uphill behind him. The orc suddenly threw its ax at Jung Si-woo, turned around, and started running away!

[Chief Chun can deal with you, I’m out!]

“Well, thank you for saving my mana and for giving me an explanation!”

Jung Si-woo easily avoided the thrown ax and flung his hammer as hard as he could. Mana instinctively pervaded the weapon, making it spin even faster. Despite the centurion’s speed, the hammer hit it in the back of the head, cracking open its helmet like a watermelon.

[Ugh!]

“Nice shot! And now, for a body tackle!”

Jung Si-woo’s full-body smash hit the centurion square-on. It had somehow stayed on its feet when its helmet had been crushed, but now it was staggering with a concussion.

“You can’t escape now!”

[Gaagh!]

Jung Si-woo used his Battle Sprint skill, infusing his body with mana, then activated Stone Skin, which was intended for defense. It seemed like a mess of a multitude of skills to activate, but Jung Si-woo somehow found a way to create an even greater power using all of them! This combination finally came into effect through the repetitive battles of the last two days when he was trying to figure out how best to use his few active skills. This was the first time something worked out in real combat.

“Hey, are you dead!?”

“It isn’t dead, just shattered! And what the hell was that just now!?”

Soo Ah-rin demanded an answer. Even Jung Si-woo wasn’t sure. At first, it had been difficult enough to combine his Battle Sprint with mana infusion to create the Full-body Smash, and he had never thought to add Stone Skin to it. That just came to him instinctively as he thought how best to kill this enemy, and somehow, he succeeded!

“I just mixed the skills together instinctively…wait.”

“Wait, what?”

It wasn’t just Jung Si-woo who thought this combination was good. His body suddenly became hot, and he started tingling all over. Then, a notification popped up in front of him.

[You have acquired the active skill Cruel Charge.]

[Cruel Charge Lv.1]

[Synthesis skill. Mana running in a certain direction is changed according to the purpose, and the user’s breathing is also matched, leading to an absurd breakthrough power. All status has been affected.]

“Is this my second active skill?”

“You keep exceeding my expectations. To create an active synthetic skill…”

Soo Ah-rin had never even heard of Cruel Charge, but it was natural that Jung Si-woo had synthesized it by simply combining his skills.

“Let’s call it C2 for the double letters.”

“It fits perfectly with some semantics, but let’s remember that I came up with it.”

Soo Ah-rin looked concerned as she noticed the toll this skill took on Jung Si-woo.

“How much mana do you have left?”

“Hm. It’s definitely a powerful skill, and my mana consumption was enormous to handle three skills at once. But, since it was created from a completed skill, the mana consumption should decrease a bit from now on.”

“Take a break before fighting the boss. There’s nothing left between here and the boss room.”

Now, Soo Ah-rin thought that Jung Si-woo was unreasonable because he didn’t say anything about resting. He’d need to be at his best to beat the boss.

“Fine. Let’s focus on breaking the traps for now.”

Usually, there weren’t only monsters in the dungeons, but traps as well. They targeted the player’s life whenever and wherever possible. Ever since Jung Si-woo encountered his first trap in the test dungeon, he successfully destroyed each one by simply striking out with his hammer when he sensed something suspicious. Never once had his senses failed him so far! Even now, he didn’t completely understand how he was doing it, but he was easily destroying traps here and thereby casually swinging his hammer or throwing rocks. It was like he had a sixth sense for them.

However, the moment Jung Si-woo smashed the last trap near the boss room; a goofy, cartoon-like cloud burst into the air out of nowhere. A voice came from within.

“Hello, sir. How about a cool drink before fighting the dungeon boss?”

Jung Si-woo instinctively gripped his hammer, but after identifying the source of the voice, he relaxed a bit. Then he had a question to ask, trying hard not to sound like a dork.

“A fairy?”

“Bingo! I am Luta, a fairy merchant who flies wherever the customers go!”

The fairy was as small as Soo Ah-rin. She was female, and on her back were colorful fluttering wings that resembled that of a swallowtail butterfly’s. Her body was embellished with beaming sparkles, and she had an unrealistic beauty with silver hair and strange eyes that seemed to retreat infinitely if you looked into them. She looked like a retired player, much like Soo Ah-rin or Yong Se-ha.

“Is that your natural form?”

“You may call me a fairy, or consider me a retired player, or come up with some other explanation for why I’m in the Sky Castle or Ant Cave. But I’m just a merchant, a merchant who offers great goods to our customers at a fair price.”

Jung Si-woo looked back. Immediately after they noticed the cloud, Soo Ah-rin fluttered over to Jung Si-woo’s side. She stared at the weird-looking fairy as she clung to him.

“There was no such thing in Sky Castle. Of course, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen in the Ant Cave, but…no, it is neither a monster nor a player. This appearance of a ‘third intelligence’ is very suspicious.”

Jung Si-woo thought he knew what Soo Ah-rin was trying to say. Perhaps this was an NPC (Non-Player Character). These types of characters, which helped players progress through a game as an AI, were common in RPG games. This description matched this fairy well.

“I know I look suspicious, so take it easy! I think you already know by now that I have no intention of being threatening or hostile to customers!”

Jung Si-woo wasn’t sure he wanted to talk.

“You actually look the most dangerous.”

He readied his hammer. Soo Ah-rin had to agree.

“It’s Luta, right? So if you’re a merchant, that means you want to sell something.”

“Exactly, but I want to barter! What I want is a bead, and what players want are potions, hearthstones, equipment, and everything else you need in a dungeon! I’ll give you anything if it’s worth the trade!”

Asking for a bead rather than a dollar increased her reliability. Scammers were so cunning that, if experienced merchants or traders came across them, there was a possibility they might get bewitched by their guile.

“Both seem the same in terms of value!”

“Honestly, there aren’t many people I can call my friends.”

“What kind of saying is that?!”

Fairy merchant Luta chuckled at Jung Si-woo’s words. Then suddenly, she stopped laughing and continued.

“Since you won’t believe me either way, I’ll give you a special, one-time gift.”

“Huh? A gift?”

A drinking cup appeared in the air and lowered itself into Jung Si-woo’s free hand.

“The interface doesn’t lie, so check it out.”

Jung Si-woo did as she said. A simple and clear notification appeared.

[Rejuvenation Potion]

[A potion that is easy to drink and causes less burden on the body by diluting a powerful magic reagent by mixing it with soda. It restores health and stamina.]

Jung Si-woo looked at the fairy staring at him.

“Have you been hiding and watching us this entire time?”

“It’s just because my customers need a break at this stage!”

It was true. If anyone looked at Jung Si-woo right now, they’d think he was exhausted. He wasn’t that bad off, but he took the potion anyway.

“Hey?!”

“It’s okay, Luta is right. The interface doesn’t lie.”

“Yes, but…”

[Health and stamina have been restored.]

The instant the drink passed down Jung Si-woo’s throat, all the stamina that he’d lost from recklessly stream-rolling the dungeon was restored. Jung Si-woo was caught off guard, and Luta took the opportunity to push forward.

“Now, would you like to buy a mana potion? As a special discount for the first purchase, I’ll only charge five armored orc beads. If you recover with a potion and beat the boss now, the reward will probably a lot better than if you wait for your mana to recover and beat the boss later. So that’s a huge benefit, right?”

His mana was pretty low. It would take quite a while until it was fully recovered, which would lower the dungeon’s clearance rank. Luta wasn’t wrong in that aspect.

“I don’t like you…”

“Sorry, but regardless of whether you like me or not, I like any customer that comes my way.”

Luta’s words seemed sincere, but she had her pride. Soo Ah-rin didn’t bother hiding her mistrust, but Jung Si-woo only shrugged.

“Okay, I’ll take the mana potion.”

“And that’s five armored orc beads for me. Thank you, sir!”

Jung Si-woo downed the potion and recovered his mana. Fairy merchant Luta asked if he needed anything else, but he just laughed and shook his head.

“See you next time then! Please remember the fairy merchant Luta!”

“I don’t want to see you again.”

Soo Ah-rin muttered in dissatisfaction as she stared at the empty spot where Luta had so quickly popped in and out.

“This means there’s at least one NPC that’s connected to the Ant Cave and is also aware of the Sky Castle.”

In stark contrast, Jung Si-woo was in high spirits. Whether it was because of the potion or something else, he had an optimistic glow to him.

“You trust too easily. Whatever. I won’t leave you that easily.”

“Well, how about that?”

It was true, though. She showed favor, not hostility to Jung Si-woo. At least, he didn’t feel like she was feigning her affection for him.

“Well, we don’t have to worry about that now; the important thing to focus on is the boss.”

“We might as well get it done.”

With every inch of his body rejuvenated, there was only one thing left to do. Jung Si-woo opened the door to the boss room.