Chapter 27

While hunting Red Tigers, they found traces of Blancs.

The Blancs' bloodstains were a yellowish green.

A stark contrast to the Red Tigers' crimson blood.

Confirming that the green blood led to the boss zone, Jeong-Hoon left the remaining Red Tigers to Prettypong and moved on.

[Lv.42 Red King Tiger]

"Grrr, how dare you enter here."

The beast was about 1.5 times larger than the Red Tigers outside.

It bared its fangs and drooled, threatening Jeong-Hoon.

Someone once said that standing before a ferocious beast like a tiger would make your whole body freeze.

The Red King Tiger's bloodlust was so intense that it was hard to believe this was a virtual reality world.

Jeong-Hoon's gaze shifted to the side of the Red King Tiger.

A badly damaged corpse.

And the pendant lying next to it.

This dungeon was definitely the right answer.

"Grrr!"

[Lv.42 Red King Tiger uses 'Intimidation'.]

Boss-level monsters above level 40 used one or more special abilities.

This made it even harder to beat them alone.

[Debuff applied.]

A debuff was applied, and his body stiffened as if paralyzed.

"I'll kill you, human!"

The Red King Tiger lunged at Jeong-Hoon.

Jeong-Hoon stepped back and unleashed a Continuous Slash.

Slice.

The sharp sword strike tore through the Red King Tiger's skin.

"Krr?!"

The startled beast stumbled back.

How did he break free from Intimidation?

The Red King Tiger's eyes wavered.

'This is why divine power is needed.'

Intimidation was a debuff-type ability.

An ability that momentarily sealed the opponent's movements.

Therefore, divine power was needed to dispel the ability.

[Martial Artist's exclusive skill, 'Steadfast Will' is activated.]

[You have acquired the skill 'Dispel (Rare)'.]

As he tried to dispel the debuff, Steadfast Will activated, and he acquired Dispel.

Thanks to this, he was able to instantly release his paralyzed muscles with Dispel.

If the level difference was too great, divine power would be useless. But the level difference between Jeong-Hoon and the Red King Tiger was only a little over 10.

So Dispel easily worked.

Jeong-Hoon began to pressure the Red King Tiger.

Slice.

The Red King Tiger's tough skin was cut, and it screamed.

Jeong-Hoon swung his sword down hard towards its neck.

"Keeeeek!"

A scream different from before erupted.

The beast hurriedly jumped back, creating distance between itself and Jeong-Hoon.

"Is this the best you can do with a sword?"

Jeong-Hoon was a little disappointed.

He had just struck the beast's neck accurately.

Yet, instead of severing its head, the sword got stuck halfway.

Unless he acquired a Legendary skill like the Underworld Kings Fist Technique, it wasn't easy to overcome the level difference.

But it was fine.

In time, all these skills would grow to Legendary or higher.

"Grrr..."

The Red King Tiger's eyes no longer showed any bloodlust.

It had completely lost its will to fight in the face of the fear of death.

Jeong-Hoon walked slowly towards it.

"Stay away!"

Despite bleeding profusely, the beast nimbly tried to avoid Jeong-Hoon, but he leisurely cornered it.

Over time, Red King Tiger's movements became noticeably sLesser.

It was due to severe blood loss.

Eventually, it was completely blocked by a wall.

"Krr..."

Finally, it collapsed.

"Let's end this."

Slice.

Jeong-Hoon used Strike and severed the Red King Tiger's neck.

[Level up!]

[All stats increased by +1.]

[Bonus stat +1 awarded.]

With this, his level became 31.

[Achievement Unlocked! 'Save the Best for Last (2)' completed! 2,000 achievement points awarded.]

[Achievement Shop level increased to 3!]

The uninvested bonus stats were 40.

After surpassing 40, he achieved the next achievement.

'Good. I've accumulated a lot of achievement points.'

He had just gained an additional 2,000 points, raising the Achievement Shop level to 3.

He was still far from 6, but even at level 3, he could buy some good items.

Jeong-Hoon collected the dropped magic stones and the pendant from the damaged corpse before leaving the boss zone.

"You damn bastards!"

Prettypong was frantically swinging his axe, desperately driving away the Red Tigers.

But due to their overwhelming numbers, Prettypong was covered in wounds.

He had endured well.

Jeong-Hoon cast Healing on Prettypong.

[Using Lesser Healing.]

The Lesser Healing, now upgraded to Rare grade, quickly healed Prettypong's minor wounds.

"Huh? Isn't this Healing?"

Prettypong, who had been swinging his axe, opened his eyes wide as his health recovered.

What he had just received was Healing.

The familiar feeling he felt every time he received healing washed over his body.

Strange. There should be no healer here.

"Let's finish this quickly."

"W-Was that... Did you just cast Healing?"

"Maybe?"

While he was stunned, Jeong-Hoon stepped forward and hunted the remaining Red Tigers.

***

[Event quest completed.]

[Level up!]

[All stats increased by +2.]

[Bonus stat +2 awarded.]

Prettypong clenched his fist as he saw the message that he had leveled up.

"Phew, it's finally over!"

Not only had he leveled up, but the day spent with Jeong-Hoon had been excruciatingly difficult.

Still, he had pocketed a skill book and leveled up, so it was a satisfying day.

"Good work. Let's split up now."

"Yes! We have no business with each other anymore!"

Prettypong logged out as if running away.

"Why is he running off like that?"

His behavior made Jeong-Hoon feel like he had done something wrong.

He had asked for help when Prettypong offered, and even gave up a skill book in exchange for his help in the dungeon.

Although it was useless to Jeong-Hoon, who had the superior skill 'Indomitable Body', it was an item that could be sold for a decent price at the auction house once he reached level 70 or higher.

'Well, it's not my problem anymore.'

Jeong-Hoon returned to Idenharc and found the old man who had given him the quest.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"

The old man shed tears of gratitude as he received the pendant.

[Quest completed.]

[You have acquired 'Old Worn Map'.]

Done.

He had acquired the old map, the first item he needed to obtain.

"This is a map I received from someone a long time ago. They said it was an amazing map, but I'm too old to use it anymore. So I'll give it to my benefactor."

[Old Worn Map]

-Type: Map

-Grade: ?

-An old and worn map that is impossible to decipher.

-Cannot use Restoration Potion

A map that even an alchemist couldn't restore.

No wonder no one wanted to take the quest from this old man.

"Thank you."

Jeong-Hoon took the map and headed for the next NPC.

The farthest place from Idenharc.

A place where vagrants rested for a while.

He stopped at an old mansion.

It was a two-story mansion with the door wide open, and some vagrants were already resting on the first floor.

"Hey, if you're here to rest, go inside and rest."

With the NPC's kind explanation, Jeong-Hoon entered the mansion.

The interior of the mansion was quite clean.

This was because the vagrants who came to rest cleaned up before leaving.

"The second floor is blocked off, so only use the first floor."

"Yes."

"But you're a bit different from us, aren't you? Your clothes are neat."

The vagrants' clothes were all shabby.

Jeong-Hoon, on the other hand, was immaculate from head to toe.

They immediately realized that Jeong-Hoon was not a vagrant, but an outsider.

"Yes, I'm here on a short errand."

"Is that so? Alright."

The vagrant didn't ask any further questions.

Jeong-Hoon began opening the closed doors one by one as he looked around the mansion.

"Whoa, what's this?"

Some vagrants were gathered chatting, while others were snoring away in their sleep.

But none of them were the NPC Jeong-Hoon was looking for.

And he opened the last door.

In the room, an old man was examining a map while fiddling with an old monocle.

The walls were plastered with yellowed maps.

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Jorden

-Level: 35

-Job: Interpreter

And a question mark was blinking above his head.

***

Whoosh-

The capsule door opened, and Lee Jun-sik stepped out.

His whole body was drenched in sweat.

"Wow... I finally escaped."

He checked his watch; 13 hours had already passed.

During that time, he had been digging and swinging his axe in the dungeon to avoid dying.

"But... who the hell was that guy?"

How could someone with a much Lesser level than him massacre Red Tigers like that?

Lee Jun-sik logged into World Com on his phone.

[Guys, is it possible for a level 30 low-level martial artist to slaughter level 39 Red Tigers?]

-The weapon was a sword. He hunted 20 of them alone at once. He killed them cleanly, targeting only their vital points.

As soon as he posted the question, replies started pouring in like ghosts.

└Lol, what kind of new troll is this?

└How can a low-level martial artist slaughter Red Tigers? And 20 of them at once?

└This is crazy lol. A low-level martial artist? lol

└Even trolls need to be good at trolling... This guy's an amateur lol.

└Dude, be realistic lol. You have to be reasonable even when you're talking nonsense lol.

Troll? Amateur? Nonsense?

"I expected this..."

Lee Jun-sik chuckled.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have dismissed it as nonsense too.

Then, other speculative comments started appearing.

└Uh...? Wait a minute. The martial artist used a sword? Could it be that martial artist who got the hidden class?

└I heard there's a non-standard martial artist causing a stir, could it be that martial artist?

└There's something called a blind system for hidden classes, maybe he's deliberately hiding as a low-level martial artist?

└Yeah, it's not impossible.

"Uh...? Wait a minute."

Lee Jun-sik's eyes widened as he read the comment.

That's right.

The recently appeared hidden class martial artist!

How could he not have thought of that!

"I-I have to log in quickly!"

Lee Jun-sik hurriedly got into the capsule.

If it was true, he should have at least added him as a friend to build a connection.

He shouldn't have rushed to escape.

"Please... please still be there..."