Chapter 15

Status: Very Unstable (1)

As I stepped inside, a strange sense of lessened gravity surrounded me. It had been a long time since I experienced it for myself. As darkness and light intersected, the darkness was swept away, leaving only bright light. Even if I closed my eyes, the bright glow permeated my mind.

And there was a sense of unreality that followed. Some had stated that their consciousness went infinitely slow, while others said that they felt a sense of discomfort as if they were contained in a shell that they didn't fit in. Passing through such an unpleasant tunnel, I stepped into the dungeon.

Splash!

The first thing that stimulated my ears was the sound of a waterfall. I began to mumble to myself. It was indeed a field type. The air was completely different from the mountains that I was in just a moment ago. I looked up at the light green sky. In the air, a pale green glow danced along with the wind in a wave-like pattern. The flow of the atmosphere was also visible. I looked down again and saw the dense forest in front of me. The color of the leaves on the tree was a vivid blood crimson.

Rumble!

I turned to the place where I could hear the loud vibration of the waterfall. Then, a huge island floated in the western sky, and the waterfall, which started from that floating landmass, began to fall. I had come to realize it again. After all, the dungeon wasn't a normal world. It was a middle dimension that looked like a mess of fragmented pieces from various worlds.

I took a few steps. There was an opaque wall behind the gate; a phenomenon commonly referred to as the boundary of the dungeon. The creatures living in the dungeon could freely pass through this wall, but hunters like us couldn't. The boundary here was a hemispherical shape covering the ground. I measured the curved angle of the boundary wall behind the gate. From this data, I could calculate the area of ​​the overall boundary by inference.

The calculation result came out quickly, revealing this dungeon's area to be approximately 35 km in radius. It was fortunate for me that it wasn't wide. I was unsure how wide this dimension would be, but it meant that the radius I could move in the current situation was that much. I looked around the gate and sowed it in my memory. And without hesitation, I walked into the woods.

Swoosh!

A heavy wind blew, causing leaves to fall like rain everywhere.

"Kaak, kaak!"

The forest was full of small animals that made up this peculiar ecosystem. Although I couldn't see their appearance as they hid well, blue mana flashed everywhere between the branches and behind the bloody leaves, looking like starlight shining in a red night sky. Every time I took a step, the little things spread out and hid.

"Kaak, kaak! Kaak!"

They exchanged signals with each other through their cries. Most of these weak guys weren't worth dealing with. They were similar to a small rodent-like animal on Earth, except each of them had mana cores in their bodies. In here, even such life forms had a core that only the Awakened had on Earth because of the dungeon.

However, I didn't even bother trying to hunt them. The Mana core of such a small animal was weak. I could perhaps say that, by capturing a few hundred of them, I might be able to extract 0.001 mana. No other expedition teams found it necessary to mind them. In such a dungeon, there were other targets to be concerned with.

How long had it been since I started walking?

"···"

There was a moment of rowdiness made by the rustling of leaves as the little creatures passed, but the forest quickly silenced. I saw it then.

Shaaa!

I stayed alert and moved slowly. The wind blew again, causing the shadows of the branches to sway and a rustling sound to be heard. In the shadow of the forest in the distance, the afterimage of blue mana fluttered by. It was an intense light that couldn't be compared to that of the insignificant creatures I had seen so far: it was a monster. As it must've sensed me first, it noticed my change of state immediately.

"Growl!"

The monster swiftly crossed through the gap between the trees toward me. It had an appearance that one couldn't find on Earth, with distorted turquoise skin and the size of a gorilla. It also has a threatening muscular form that seemed capable of smashing rock. Fluid flowed freely from its pig-nose, and it has sharpened teeth. His murderous aura toward me. At that moment, I dashed and ran toward it.

Kata-kata!

The ground flowed like water, the landscape of the forest passing in an instant. The wind ripped by my ears. Physical abilities that weren't possible for ordinary humans, such as a reinforced body and agility, were given to every hunter. But it didn't stop there. I drew a Mana pattern from what I remembered.

[Acceleration (Rank: E)!]

Acceleration was added to my speed to push even further beyond human limits. As it was about to throw an ax at me, approaching in a straight line, the Orc's expression turned stiff. A glance of panic was reflected through the wrinkled flesh of its face. I broke through the laws of physics and disappeared from its sight.

It was too late when the Orc finally found my location and once again aimed his ax.

"Growl?!"

I approach him from the side. Like any other dungeon creature, its body was surrounded by a shield of mana. However, it was distinctive — the areas where the blue light was strongly agglomerated to protect and the areas that weren't defended. All these observations, judgments, and executions were made at the speed of light. I thrust my fist through the weakest part of the shield as the ax that was aiming at me had just been drawn up.

Crush!

My fist that was concentrated with mana pierced the weak barrier and crushed his skull: crushed brain fragments, bone shards, and fluids splattered in all directions.

Thud!

Its heavy body collapsed, colliding with the ground and causing it to shake.

'Alright!'

I looked down at my fist, smeared with blood. The excitement didn't subside. At that point, I realized something. Everything that I simulated countless times in my head in the past life could now unfold by my power.

'It worked!'

The Mana shield that protected the Orc was a defense mechanism close to the instincts of a wild animal. Unlike the hunters' defense skills controlled by the system, its density as it wrapped around the body was rough and uneven. The difference was obvious just by looking at the head area, and I had deftly aimed for that part. Soothing the overwhelming joy with a few deep breaths, I went on to the next thing that needed to be done.

As I concentrated mana on my finger, I squeezed it in near the heart of the corpse. Even though it had already died, the mana remaining in its body maintained the barrier like a type of postmortem stiffening. My fingers pierced the remaining barriers and penetrated its muscle tissue.

This was why the hunter was more efficient than modern weapons for dungeon exploration. The most effective way to pierce mana was, after all, mana itself. After a while, my finger reached its Mana core, pulled from the Orc's heart. Without delay, I activated the skill.

[Mana Drain (Rank: SSS)]

The little green crystal between my fingers disappeared without a trace. Afterward, I stiffened and stopped breathing for a moment.

"···Ahh!"

I couldn't help but let out a little groan. It was similar yet different from the moment when I came into contact with the Awakening Stone. It was a sense akin to something strange penetrating my skin. It gradually made its way into my body. However, the unfamiliarity turned into a familiar and pleasant feeling after a while, like I was full.

'So, it's like this.'

The newly injected mana that was filling me couldn't be distinguished from the mana originally in my body. I scanned myself right away with the Successor's Eyes.

-Active Mana: 530(+20)/510

-Potential Mana: 71,492

Originally, my active Mana box was limited to 510, but thanks to the core absorption, my active mana now rose to 530. Although, if I used that mana exceeding the limit, it would be impossible to recover it. And the Potential Mana, although slightly, had increased.

'Yes, it's like this.'

I couldn't stop the ends of my mouth from rising. While killing the Orc, I used up some Mana, but I gained more active mana than I consumed while absorbing its core. Rather, the mana increased above what I used. In this way, it would be unnecessary to consume Mana potions as I hunted. It was truly self-sufficient.

'Very good.'

Moving on, I looked at the Orc's body. What it was holding was a stone ax. Nevertheless, since it was a dungeon object, it was possible to inject and aggregate mana into it, so it would be classified as an artifact if taken outside. Of course, it would be valued at the lowest level. Would they use it for beginner hunter training purposes? I decided not to bring up the ax. Looking at both weaponry and clothing, they were at a very low level of civilization.

Orcs were monsters that commonly appeared in but they could also be seen depending on the dungeon. This was true of not only Orcs but most monsters. The Orcs of the dungeon that I entered today had evolved enough to allow complete bipedal walking, but their weapon level had not yet escaped the Stone Age by Earth's standards.

According to the hunters' report, among the Orcs found in the dungeon, some Orcs were quadruped, literally beast-like (they resembled wild boars), and some used sophisticated iron weapons. Furthermore, some Orcs used magic. Fortunately, no case had yet been found with civilization at the Earth's level for the Orc race.

'In this kind of civilization, they can't even build an organization or use tactics yet.'

At best, it would be close to the level of wild beasts hunting in groups. Confirming that, I nodded to myself.

'I could go deeper.'

According to my memory, there were no Orcs among the monsters that poured out when this dungeon collapsed a few months later. It meant that all the Orcs in this dungeon would go extinct before it would collapse. Perhaps, in the period that the dungeon evolved after 45 days, another race would join this place within that short time between evolution and collapse. However, this time, it wouldn't happen.

'Because it will be cleared before evolution...by me.'

Of course, I wasn't here to clear it.

'Once I have absorbed a lot of Mana cores...'

There wasn't even one mana core in stock in the Celestial Dragon Guild warehouse, which was full of various artifacts and dungeon by-products. Even in the black market, at least to the point that I could go in, I couldn't see the mana cores. That market probably didn't handle those types at all, as well.

The reason for this was simple. This was because the highest level of national control was applied to the Mana core, far stricter than the Awakening Stone or dungeon creatures. Once the dungeon was reported to the country, a checkpoint was created around the gate. The first piece of equipment installed there was the Mana Core Analyzer. Hunters had to sell the Mana cores collected in dungeons to the state unconditionally.

Anyway, all of this was until subspace artifacts were discovered and became widespread, but at this point, it couldn't really be helped.

'The Celestial Dragon Guild of the past life must have solved everything in the dungeon to support Seo Jin-wook.'

If others knew Seo Jin-wook's skill, they wouldn't have left him unsupported. Instead of taking out all the cores that came out during the exploration, they would have passed a certain amount to Seo Jin-wook and let him consume it, only to the amount the country wouldn't be suspicious.

But now, if I were to do so, it would be disclosed to potential enemies inside. It would also be faster to receive guild support initially, but I knew it would become much faster to proceed on my way now as time passed by. And in the process, some parts couldn't be revealed to others, such as this instance of hunting Orcs right now.

With these thoughts in mind, I made my way deeper into the forest.