Chapter 43: Chapter 43

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Chapter 43

Park Chan-gi, using the nickname Akira, emerged from the capsule.

Forcibly, that is.

“Shit… What the hell?”

He thought things would go smoothly, but what had happened?

Park Chan-gi had finished clearing the dungeon five hours ago.

After waiting for over a week to enter just once, he couldn’t gather the quest materials.

So he thought about buying a dungeon transfer.

However, the moment he confirmed that the market price for a dungeon transfer ticket was 50 gold, he neatly abandoned the plan.

He only had 19 gold.

“I can’t even throw cash at it…”

The surest way to get gold was to exchange cash.

With one gold being around 10,000 won, 50 gold would mean shelling out about 500,000 won.

But the problem was Park Chan-gi had no money.

He had recently spent all his part-time job earnings on buying weapons and armor with real money.

His friends, who always stuck together, were in the same boat.

So they came up with the idea of forcibly taking the transfer ticket.

To put the plan into action, he called his friends and waited for an opportunity, loitering near the dungeon.

Soon, a user walked up to the dungeon and waited.

He was a lower martial artist, only level 51.

At first glance, he looked like a clueless beginner, the perfect target to rip off.

Just in case he hadn’t made a reservation, Park Chan-gi approached him and subtly inquired if he had reserved the dungeon.

As expected, the user had made a reservation.

‘No deal.’

He offered 10 gold, but the response was ice-cold.

He had tried to take the easy way out, but that triggered Park Chan-gi’s temper.

So he tried to forcefully take the transfer ticket through intimidation.

But…

“This is absurd…”

Park Chan-gi remembered the battle that had just occurred.

The level 51’s steps were so dazzling that it was hard to follow with his eyes, and when the fist flew at him, he felt his breath catch in his throat.

Fortunately, as a rogue, he had an evasion skill and narrowly dodged it. After that, he was relentlessly beaten without a chance to counterattack, and he lost consciousness.

When he came to, with intense pain, he found himself with a death notification and the capsule door open.

Did he really die to that martial artist?

Buzz-

Sitting in the capsule, shocked by the situation, his smartphone on the desk vibrated.

He got up with difficulty and checked his smartphone.

The caller was his friend, Yoo Tae-yang, who had joined him in the intimidation.

“Hello? Hey, what happened to me?”

[Crazy… That martial artist totally wrecked us.]

“Ha… Fuck, you’re saying I got beaten by a level 51 lower martial artist?”

Park Chan-gi was a level 73 assassin.

Was it even possible that he was beaten without landing a single counterattack by a martial artist 22 levels lower than him?

[Dude, it couldn’t be helped. That guy wasn’t ordinary…]

“Not ordinary?”

Yoo Tae-yang’s words made Park Chan-gi’s eyes widen.

‘You’re saying the others died too?’

Shortly after Park Chan-gi was forcibly logged out, the remaining three also met the same fate.

They, too, were defeated without landing a single counterattack.

The problem was that this martial artist had appeared on World Com before.

[I’m checking World Com right now, and it’s definitely him!]

A post with a video of an unclassed martial artist defeating an instructor in a 1vs1 match.

He checked the video on his computer, and it indeed looked very similar to the martial artist.

“Wow… It really is him.”

The flashy footwork, the familiar fist techniques.

Although the video was automatically mosaicked, making it impossible to see his face, Park Chan-gi, who had been hit by him, was certain it was the same person.

[Shit, you really got us into deep trouble.]

“It’s in the past. Stop nagging.”

[…Forget it.]

Park Chan-gi hung up the phone and replayed the video on the post.

‘He’s really awesome…’

How could a low-level martial artist use such fist techniques?

Wouldn’t he have to be a master of martial arts before even playing the game to be at this level?

He scrolled to read the comments.

└Making a pilgrimage here.

└Wow… This is what it takes to win the capsule event lol

└Beating an Epic Saber and winning first place ;_;

Crazy, he was the same unclassed martial artist who won the capsule event?!

And he even received countless love calls from guilds.

Among them were quite a few named guilds that he had heard of.

The realization that he had tried to mess with such a martial artist sent shivers down his spine.

Park Chan-gi impulsively posted on World Com.

[I saw the martial artist who took down the instructor.]

-He’s fucking awesome.

* * *

“Phew, I can finally breathe.”

Ha-jin logged in after Jeong-Hoon had wiped out the gang.

“Took you long enough.”

“Hey, it was a big one. A big one. 15 minutes is pretty damn fast.”

“Anyway, accept the party invite.”

“Okay.”

With this, Jeong-Hoon and Ha-jin’s two-person party was formed.

About 30 minutes later, the two-person party that had entered before them returned.

“Man, that was tough…”

“You can say that again.”

It was natural for them to be exhausted, having cleared a dungeon designed for 3-4 people with just two.

They left the field, and Jeong-Hoon entered the portal.

[Would you like to enter Lv. 59 Barren Land of Flames?]

Upon accepting, Jeong-Hoon and Ha-jin’s bodies were transported into the dungeon.

[There is a significant level difference between party members.]

[A penalty will be applied.]

[The difficulty of Lv. 59 Barren Land of Flames will be adjusted.]

[Entering Lv. 105 Barren Land of Flames.]

***

Barren Land of Flames.

The land was dry and cracked due to prolonged drought, and the intense sunlight was scorching hot.

It must be at least 60 degrees Celsius.

Jeong-Hoon roughly wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.

Ha-jin, at Lv. 159, was unfazed by the heat due to his high stats, but Jeong-Hoon was only level 51.

Adjusting to the heat wasn’t easy, regardless of skill.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Ha-jin asked with a worried look.

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, just stay here. I’ll take care of the monsters, so just land one hit on the boss monster. Okay?”

With that, Ha-jin drew his sword and swung it forcefully at a Lv. 105 Baby Uradon.

The Baby Uradon couldn’t withstand the level 159 sword strike and collapsed sideways.

Ha-jin raised his sword and finished it off by stabbing the Baby Uradon’s neck.

‘Phew, this is easy.’

No matter how much Jeong-Hoon had a Legendary class and a Legendary weapon, it would be difficult to hunt monsters 54 levels higher.

Whoosh!

At that moment, an arrow shot out, piercing the Baby Uradon’s neck.

The Baby Uradon, hit in its vital point, trembled and died.

‘Huh…?’

Ha-jin stared blankly in the direction the arrow had come from.

Jeong-Hoon was there, drawing his bowstring.

As he released the string once more, the arrow flew, piercing the neck of another Baby Uradon that had been lying in ambush.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and hunt.”

“Uh… Yeah, okay.”

Ha-jin nodded absentmindedly at the natural order.

‘What the hell is with him? How can he…’

Not just his class and weapon, but his archery skills were insane!

He had never seen Jeong-Hoon even touch a bow since elementary school.

Who knew he could shoot so well?

He should take back what he said about just landing one hit.

“Grrr! Humans, I’ll kill you!”

Two Baby Uradons charged at Ha-jin.

“This is not the time to be distracted.”

Ha-jin, regaining his focus, swung his sword wide.

* * *

The subjugation went smoothly.

‘It’s definitely easier with a level 159 swordsman drawing aggro in front.’

Hunting monsters with a level difference of over 50 wasn’t easy.

If he didn’t have the Legendary weapon, it would have taken considerably longer.

“I’m curious, where did you learn archery?”

Anima, who had been watching silently, spoke up.

“I don’t know.”

He couldn’t say that he learned from named archers before his regression.

Of course, he remembered what he had seen over their shoulders and imitated their movements one by one.

The result of developing and refining those movements was his current mastery.

“Hmm, suit yourself.”

Anima, seemingly not interested in prying, quietly shut his mouth.

“Hoon, are you alright?”

Ha-jin, having finished off the last Baby Uradon, wiped the blood off his sword and asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“…You’re really something, you know.”

“Let’s head in.”

They hadn’t gained any experience or items so far, but the important part was about to begin.

Uradon, lurking in the boss zone.

If they could get two horns from him, the quest would be successful.

“Grrr, you humans. You’ve got guts.”

Lv. 110 Uradon.

Although only five levels higher than the Baby Uradons, they couldn’t let their guard down.

Uradon’s original level was 64.

His unique ability was Intimidation.

When using Intimidation, he could lower the overall stats of opponents weaker than himself.

“Hey, I’ll get him down to critical health.”

Before he could use his unique ability, Ha-jin charged forward.

Thanks to that, Uradon’s attention was focused on Ha-jin.

Ha-jin started to pressure Uradon, unleashing his skills.

“Kuaaah!”

[Uradon uses ‘Intimidation’.]

[Uradon uses ‘Stun’.]

So it was Stun.

Due to the level adjustment, Uradon’s level had exceeded 100.

Hence, a new unique ability was added.

“Damn it.”

Ha-jin’s movements stopped, seemingly affected by the Stun.

Seeing this, Uradon charged at Ha-jin, using the horns on his head.

Ha-jin, directly hit by the massive body, was sent flying over 5 meters.

“Is he okay?”

Anima asked Jeong-Hoon with a slightly worried expression.

“He’s fine.”

Ha-jin was level 159.

No matter how much the Uradon’s level had increased, that attack wouldn’t be fatal.

“Ugh, that hurt like hell. You’re dead.”

As Jeong-Hoon had said, Ha-jin got up as soon as the Stun wore off.

“Hmm.”

Anima nodded in understanding, seeing Ha-jin completely unharmed.

Ha-jin charged again, pressuring Uradon.

Since he had used Intimidation and Stun simultaneously, they should be on cooldown.

Uradon was flustered, busy defending against Ha-jin’s attacks.

‘Good.’

Jeong-Hoon seized the opportunity and drew his bowstring.

[Martial Artist exclusive skill, ‘Steadfast Will’, is activated.]

[Skill, ‘Arrow Shot (Rare)’, is acquired.]

[‘Steadfast Will’ merges ‘Arrow’ and ‘Arrow Shot’.]

[Acquires ‘Critical Arrow’.]

A skill that could only be acquired after accumulating enough counts by attacking vital points.

And through Steadfast Will, the skills merged, creating ‘Critical Arrow.’

‘Perfect timing.’

A smile crept across Jeong-Hoon’s face.

Critical Arrow served to increase the arrow’s attack power and critical hit chance.

Even without hitting a vital point directly, it could deal comparable damage with a certain probability.

Of course, he still intended to aim for vital points.

He released the drawn bowstring.

Whoosh!

The arrow shot out, accurately piercing Uradon’s neck as he defended against Ha-jin’s sword strike.

“Kweeeek!”

However, Uradon grabbed the arrow lodged in his neck and forcefully pulled it out.

“So he won’t die easily?”

Anima frowned.

“He’s a boss.”

No matter how much Jeong-Hoon aimed for vital points, there was almost a 60-level difference.

So he couldn’t finish him off with just one shot.

Jeong-Hoon drew the bowstring again.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

Uradon, enraged, charged at Jeong-Hoon.

“Oh no!”

Ha-jin hurriedly tried to block, but Uradon was slightly faster.

‘If he gets hit by that, he’ll die.’

Unlike Ha-jin at level 159, Jeong-Hoon’s defense was at level 51.

He would receive an instant death from Uradon’s body slam.

So he had to finish him off before they collided.

‘Calm Breathing.’

In that tense moment, Jeong-Hoon’s breathing remained steady, and there wasn’t even a slight tremor in his hand holding the bowstring.

Finally, he released the drawn string.

The arrow pierced Uradon’s neck again.

But this time, reactions were different.

Black flames erupted from the neck wound as soon as the arrow pierced it.

“Kweeeek!”

He screamed, clutching his neck.

Soon, he collapsed sideways, his body trembling.

“You finish him off.”

“Got it.”

This was enough to earn the reward.

At Jeong-Hoon’s signal, Ha-jin raised his sword and ended Uradon’s life, concluding the battle.

————