Chapter 14: The Ruins Where the Brightest Sun Sleeps
Upon returning home, I set aside everything and immediately opened my inventory, carefully placing two items on the floor, gazing at them with eyes filled with anticipation and emotion.
A Mythical Relic and a Legendary-SS Rank Skill Book.
Just one of these would be something even most S-rank hunters would find difficult to encounter in their lifetime; they were truly legendary and mythical items.
To think that I had acquired not one, but two of such incredible treasures.
“Even if Heavenly Fortune is asleep, I feel secure!”
Which one should I check first?
With a heart full of excitement, I pondered for a while, experiencing a sort of decision paralysis. Ultimately, my hand reached for the relic.
I pushed aside a large tome that looked like an old book and retrieved the cross necklace from my inventory.
In an instant, the room felt warm and cozy, and divine power began to radiate.
A Unique Grade item would be of high quality, usable by any active high-ranking hunter without any issues, but I didn’t even have time to marvel at its abilities before bringing the cross close to the wings.
Swoosh!
The moment the two items made contact, the wings began to ravenously consume the divine power as if fish meeting water.
Crack!
As the cross was drained of all its divine power, it started to crack and ultimately shattered into pieces.
An item worth several hundred million to several billion had broken, but unfortunately, I could not dwell on that.
The incredible and mysterious event unfolding before my eyes was far too intense to care about something so trivial.
Paaah!
As if a dam holding back the water had burst, the wings that had devoured the Unique Grade item liberated the dormant divine power.
The bright and radiant wings rose into the air, flying around as if searching for their owner before approaching me.
“Ahh!”
One feather suddenly cut into my arm, and the blood that flowed out was absorbed. The sudden attack startled me, but soon, after the marking was completed through the blood, a beam of light began to absorb into my body.
〚Item – Relic: The First Wing of Pride, the first wing of the Fallen Angel Lucifer [Mythical] has been unsealed!〛
〚The master’s marking has been completed!〛
〚The item has transformed into a skill, generating the skill: The First Wing of Pride [Mythical]!〛
〚Forced Quest – The Wing of Pride has been triggered.〛
〚Tutorial has not been completed; quest items are deactivated!〛
〚One quest has been reserved!〛
As the messages appeared, I understood how to use the wings, and upon calling forth my will, a large white wing materialized from my left back.
〚The First Wing is now operational!〛
〚When the wing is operational, a temporarily rare stat: Divine Power is activated!〛
〚When the wing is operational, all stats receive a temporary boost of +10!〛
〚Due to low proficiency, the activation time is limited to 10 minutes! The cooldown period is 3 hours!〛
Simply by unfurling the wings, I could now use divine power, and all my stats increased by 10. Though it felt rather insufficient for a Mythical Grade item, I was just pleased.
As my Mythical stats rose, my entire body filled with strength, and an unfaltering feeling settled within me.
〚Heavenly Fortune, which had been in a deep slumber, stirs in response to the sudden influx of power.〛
Heavenly Fortune showed a positive reaction to the rise in stats.
However.
〚The enormous power that the Misfortune had been storing gleamed with satisfaction at the sudden increase in strength.〛
As the stats of Heavenly Fortune rose, so too did the stats of the Misfortune, causing me to grimace and hastily cancel the skill.
“I was feeling good, but that last message leaves a bad taste.”
Damn Cursed Fortune! I had no choice but to alleviate this foul mood with the Legendary Rank Skill Book!
In a hurry, I brought out the large tome, about the size of my body, and opened it once more with an excited heart!
Whack!
Bright light enveloped me, and the knowledge dormant within the skill book awakened, absorbing into my mind in the form of letters.
〚You have acquired the skill: Heart of the Giant [Legendary]!〛
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“Ugh!”
As soon as I learned the skill, I clutched my wildly beating heart and groaned…!
“What’s going on?”
Surprisingly, there was no reaction at all. I had just acquired a legendary skill, after all.
The heart was simply racing with joy.
To think I had only gained about five points in the Mugeuk stat; aside from feeling immense power coursing through my body, there was shockingly no other sensation or effect.
“Is this a scam? Is this really a legendary skill?”
I couldn’t help but think that way. Did I possibly overestimate it? I quickly checked the detailed description of the skill.
〚Skill: Heart of the Giant
Rank: Legendary – Growth-type
Grade: SS
LV 0 – Restriction in effect
Description: The heart of a giant, the source from which each being has the strength to lift the world and possesses sage-level wisdom. For some reason, most of its power is currently sealed.
Abilities:
- Energy-related stat (1) and physical ability-related stat (1) will always maintain equal values. (Currently inactive)
- Additional correction +5 to one physical-related stat.
- LV2 Unlock〛
I let out a sigh that was both relieved and happy, checking the skill description multiple times.
“Why didn’t I learn this?”
If the Word Spirit Sorceress Seo Ye-rin had learned this, she could have made a name for herself not just as a sorceress but as a great warrior.
“Still, no matter how talented Ye-rin is, it wouldn’t have been possible for her to appraise all the legendary skill books.”
She probably saw only the name Heart of the Giant and thought it was a skill for warriors, so she didn’t learn it.
In fact, this skill suits me much better.
If Ye-rin had learned it, one of her four physical stats—strength, agility, stamina, durability—would have been equalized with her magic, but I only have one Mugeuk stat, allowing me to maximize efficiency with minimal investment.
If I raise the Mugeuk stat, the energy stat goes up, and if I raise the energy stat, the Mugeuk stat also increases.
Truly, a living myth of creative economics.
Of course, to properly utilize this skill, I need to reach at least E rank and acquire the three advanced stats: magic, inner power, and aether.
“Anyway, thanks to this, I’ve obtained a growth-type skill!”
Some skills uniquely rise above their maximum level of LV10, allowing their rank and grade to increase.
“Right now, the skill I just acquired, Lucifer’s Wings, can also be considered growth-type in a different sense.”
The more wings I collect, the stronger and more powerful I become. Honestly, the current effects are quite lacking for a mythical skill.
I relished my enhanced physicality, chuckling to myself, and flopped onto my bed. I spent some time gazing at my status window, now adorned with the two new skills, ending what had been a busy day.
***
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Awoken by the noisy alert before dawn had even graced the sky, I hurriedly finished my shower and preparations before stepping outside.
I had gathered all the items needed for the upcoming raid in my inventory. From simple meal replacements to lights and shovels, everything was ready.
“Let’s go!”
I took a taxi to the Abyss Portal, and upon arrival, I found…
“Are you here?”
Seo Mina was waiting for me with a haughty expression.
‘What’s this?’
I rushed to pull out my phone to check the time, blinking in disbelief at the fact that it was only 4:30 AM.
What? Did I somehow message her to meet at this hour yesterday evening?
No, I had intended to prepare for entry into the hidden stage before calling her, having made an agreement with her to transfer all rewards.
Staring at her with a mixture of disbelief, shock, and confusion, each making up exactly a quarter of my expression, I asked, “Why are you here so early?”
“I had a feeling this would happen, so I decided to wait.”
She replied as if I wasn’t the one who made the mistake. Of course, it wasn’t her fault for waiting in front of me to watch the dawn.
If she said she’d wait, what could I do to stop her?
However, it was only natural to feel a bit annoyed. So, to act a little stronger, I furrowed my brow as if I were in a bad mood and brushed past her.
“This is an inconvenience.”
Lowering my voice and acting, I said that, and her mouth opened.
“Let me join you. I’ll give you all the rewards.”
Honestly, seeing that she was waiting for me made me think that she vaguely suspected I knew something.
If not, she wouldn’t have spent the night here just to clear the tutorial with me.
From the moment I chose Zone 7, she had to have her doubts.
‘Did she confirm it with Lucifer’s Wing yesterday?’
That was correct. Seo Mina had predicted that I possessed the power to see the future or something hidden because of that incident.
Although the truth was that I merely had information from regressing to the past.
As I stood behind her, pretending to think deeply, I eventually nodded.
‘I was planning to do this from the beginning.’
After all, the hidden stage is a place where even top-ranked hunters can die if they make a mistake. Even if I could clear it alone, it was better to have someone with me considering the potential dangers.
Even though I knew that a promising rookie cleared it alone, the information was too scarce, so having a kind of insurance was necessary.
Moreover, I would be helping her awaken within the hidden stage itself.
‘Then it’s almost like I’m in debt to Seo Mina twice.’
Giving her an experience in a place that’s hard to find even once in a lifetime while bringing out her talent was indeed a significant debt.
After finishing my calculations, I opened my mouth to her.
“I’ll take all the rewards.”
“I swear. If you don’t believe me, here. Sign this contract.”
She handed me a contract saved on a tablet PC, as if she had prepared it in advance.
‘As expected, a 4D weirdo.’
Is it necessary to have something broken to become S-rank or higher?
I was thinking such nonsensical thoughts while recalling the contract I had prepared in my inventory and signed it.
“Then let’s go; we’re heading to the hidden stage.”
As I calmly explained where we were going, her face showed a huge expression for the first time, as if she were in shock.
“If you’re late, I’ll leave you behind~!”
Of course, I entered the portal first, leaving her behind.
“Let’s go together!”
She hurriedly pushed her body into the portal after me and moved to the tutorial.
At the portal where the two of us had disappeared, a figure hiding in the early morning hours at 4:30 AM, when there weren’t many people, quietly revealed themselves.
They jumped into the portal after the two who had vanished.
***
Seeing the hot land after a full day made joy emerge from my lips.
“There aren’t many people.”
In fact, it was safe to say there were virtually none. Only one or two at most. There wouldn’t be many idiots who would choose Zone 7 unless they were seriously crazy.
Those one or two people were probably struggling in a Zone 7 that had less competitiveness to make some money.
Well, they might have a little skill.
For me, it was a boon. I shouldn’t be seen by anyone for the next few hours.
“Let’s go to a place where people won’t notice us.”
After moving for a while, we arrived at the deepest part of the tutorial, ignoring all the monsters we encountered along the way.
A depth that had no sign of human presence, not even traces of anyone visiting here.
I took a shovel out of my inventory.
“What are you going to do with that?”
“What do you mean, ‘what will I do with a shovel?’ I’m obviously digging.”
I started to dig into the cracked and crumbling sandy ground of the desert.
‘I was told to dig at least 300 meters.’
It was a deeper and more laborious task than it seemed. No matter how much of a hunter you were, you would inevitably get tired if you only had a shovel.
But thinking about the rewards at the end, I couldn’t stop.
“Let’s take turns. You dig for 2 hours, and I’ll dig for 1 hour. Deal?”
Fortunately, with a useful assistant, we managed to dig the 300 meters without much trouble.
After digging for about 300 meters, at that moment!
Goooh!!
A black portal appeared as if it had been waiting for us.
“Now, jump in……!!”
Before I could finish my sentence, my body was pulled into the portal.
“Hah!”
As I instantly vanished into the black vortex, Seo Mina hurriedly threw herself into the ground and disappeared into the swirling void.
As the vortex began to shrink.
“No!”
It was a secret that one more unseen person had jumped into the vortex.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Comment