Despite her small body, Soo Ah-rin yelled so loud that Jung Si-woo felt his ears ringing.
“What the hell?! You just became a player, and you can’t enter the Sky Castle to receive the basic supplies, but you’re putting all these beads in at once…!”
“You have a healing ability. Won’t we make it somehow?”
“No!”
“Well, it’s too late.”
“AAAAAAH…!”
Yes. It was too late. The 151 crystal beads poured into the altar had already vanished without a trace, and as a result, a dark chunk of light appeared on the altar. He couldn’t figure out what was there until the light disappeared.
“Even if it’s armor, please be the armor that can protect vitality!”
“Why are you praying so hard? We could always buy armor from a shop the next time we want to enter a dungeon. It’s not like we’re in the stone age.”
“If that worked, I wouldn’t be praying like this right now. But Si-woo, modern technologies don’t work in dungeons. It’s not only communication devices but also weapons and equipment made with modern technology.”
It made it impossible to know what kind of system the dungeon was actually using. However, Jung Si-woo had thought things through before he threw it all at once.
“It’s a test dungeon anyway. The beads obtained from the test dungeon won’t be of much value. If you further divide it to get a few rewards, can we really get through the next dungeon smoothly? I think it’s right to reduce the number of rewards to one instead and get something useful.”
“Sure, it’s a popular strategy for players in the Sky Castle, but this is the Ant Cave…”
Soo Ah-rin couldn’t understand Jung Si-woo at all. When he saw her falling from the sky and saved her, she thought, ‘Oh, he’s a man who doesn’t think,’ but if you looked at him right now, he seemed like he was enjoying this more than anyone else.
“You really are ignorantly brave…”
“What did you say?”
A critical hit for Jung Si-woo, who was already bothered about his skill! But he couldn’t deny the fact that the skill name, ‘Courage of the Ignorant,’ really matched his personality.
“I told you, right? The monsters that appear in this test dungeon aren’t the ones that usually appear in a normal test dungeon. So even if you divide the beads, there will be items useful enough…”
“Think about it. If the test dungeon is already this hard, then what about the first level dungeon?”
“Uh…”
Now that she thought about it! Soo Ah-rin nodded unconsciously upon hearing his convincing theory. If werewolves appeared in the test dungeon, would a weaker monster appear in the first-level dungeon? No way!
“Did you already think that far before you poured the beads out all at once?!”
“No! I just threw it all in because I wanted to have something good!”
“Then, why are you acting so proud?!”
Soo Ah-rin sighed and slapped her forehead. Even if you try to be smart, the solution came out infinitely simple. You can’t defy your original personality. Usually, if you’re placed in an extreme situation in a dungeon, it was normal to think deeply for a good strategy. However, Jung Si-woo tended to take things lightly due to his innate ability; even dungeons, werewolves, or Giant Black Wolves weren’t an exception. It was advantageous in terms of not making any mistakes due to tension and protecting his vitality, but if a situation that couldn’t be solved only by his strength came up, then something really bad would happen.
‘Now I know my role. I’m not just assisting Si-woo as a player, but also acting as his brake in situations where he doesn’t think through…’
If Soo Ah-rin could perform that role properly, then Si-woo will definitely have the power to rival the players in the front-line of each country in the near future. That’s not all; when mana and his innate strength begin to flow in harmony, he could even aim to be the world’s strongest. The world’s strongest: it was a vague term, but Soo Ah-rin could feel the reality of it. This was because of the fight that Jung Si-woo showed a while ago. Of course, if she told him directly, she knew how this simple human would react so that she would keep it to herself!
“Ah-rin.”
“Yes.”
“There’s something very big coming out.”
“What… eh!?”
Jung Si-woo’s words were true. The black light that had gathered in the place where 151 monster beads were offered gradually began to take on a concrete shape, but the figure that stretched all over the narrow altar was a bit unusual.
“It must be something really good!”
“Just because it’s big doesn’t mean it’s good. But this…”
Soo Ah-rin knows a lot about the process of creating items at the altar. Judging from her experience, it was highly possible that the item being created right now was a very good thing. Considering the amount of light gathered and the amount of mana.
“Is it a weapon?”
“Yes, it’s a weapon. That…”
Soon the light faded, and within it was a large hammer as big as a small child. The handle was as long as both of Jung Si-woo’s arms combined, and at the end of it a threatening black metal lump, seeming to hold five times the power of Jung Si-woo’s fist.
“It’s a sledgehammer.”
When Jung Si-woo put his hand on it, the interface appeared in front of him, just like when he was reading his player information and his skill description.
[Black Wolf’s Paw]
[Rank: D++]
[Damage: 250 – 750]
[Proficiency: 0 / 240]
[Option: ???]
[A sledgehammer that holds the strength of the Giant Black Wolf’s paws. It is destructive and powerful; however, it weighs as much as it is strong, making it difficult to wield.]
“Ooh, I like it.”
It really didn’t fit a man’s romance. But Jung Si-woo was satisfied with it, holding it in one hand and waving it in the air as if the words heavy and difficult to handle didn’t exist.
“I don’t know what item is all about, but I know this is good. I like this!”
“Hi!”
Soo Ah-rin was frightened at the sound of the Sledge Hammer cutting through the air threateningly.
“The criteria for judging the performance of an item is by rank!”
“Rank? It says D++.”
“D means a weapon that can be used at levels 100 to 150, and each + increases the rarity! Combined together, your weapon is at least level 150, and you have no problem picking it up and wielding it! It’s better than a class C weapon!”
“Don’t talk so far away; come closer and tell me.”
“Then stop swinging it recklessly! If I pass through there, won’t I be murdered?!”
He wanted to swing it a little more, but hearing her say something like that, Jung Si-woo put the hammer on the ground with a hefty thump. Only then did she approach him and explain the description of the item.
“It is natural that the item option is a question mark. You need to use the item for a while and raise the skill level to a certain extent before you can see all of the item’s abilities. But there is a way to find out using skills…Si-woo, do you want me to introduce you to a player I know with that skill?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Right?”
Jung Si-woo had no intention of revealing himself to the world yet. He was an unusual being with superhuman powers, but now he even had characteristics different from other players. The attention that he would gain wouldn’t necessarily be positive. It’d be ridiculously optimistic if he thought otherwise. Freedom couldn’t be kept without power. Although he was confident in his own strength, he knew very well that he would lose if compared to all the top players with world-renowned reputations. So, he wouldn’t even dream of running around the town telling people he was a player.
“Let’s move quietly for the time being, quietly.”
“Huu, I’m really glad you thought so…then, from now on, I will tell you how to move as quietly as you want.”
This was the moment to fulfill her role as a supporter! When Jung Si-woo listened quietly, Soo Ah-rin nodded with satisfaction.
“First, you need to hide your wings. Oh, it’s the tail for you. In any case, in order to hide the ‘Key,’ the symbol of a player, you must absorb the mana in that place back to the center of your body.”
“Mana…oh, this is it.”
She was talking about the energy that transformed Jung Si-woo’s body the moment he was reborn as a player! Of course, it was difficult for him to retract mana for the first time in his life, but as he became conscious of its existence, it should be possible to collect the mana staying on his tail after several attempts.
“…”
The tail of the black lizard really disappeared. He was so surprised about it that the mana he absorbed returned back to its place near the tailbone, and the tail appeared again.
“Oooh…oh?”
“…”
He seemed like a childish kid, but Soo Ah-rin wasn’t able to point it out to him. This was because she was just as astonished to see Jung Si-woo easily handle his mana by simply listening to her explanation.
“Si-woo…”
“Huh?”
“No, nothing.”
But she endured it. Great, he’s really great, she thought inside her head and smiled brightly.
‘I’m so excited.’
She hid her throbbing heart, which came from an unbearable expectation instead of love or fear. Of course, not knowing her mind, he concealed his tail perfectly and turned to her.
“So, what is the second step?”
“Yeah? Ah, the second step! The second step is inventory. You should have it since you’re already a player, right?”
“Inventory?”
As he muttered the word, a translucent window with a lattice structure appeared similar to the ones he had seen in a lot of games. Jung Si-woo, who was now able to wield mana, could see the mana flowing through the grid window.
“It is a space awarded to all players. I was afraid that it wasn’t given to underground Players, but I’m glad you have it as well. Anyway, it is possible to put all the Player’s belongings in the inventory. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a cell phone or a snack. Oh, of course, the amount you can put in your inventory is limited by volume and quantity.”
“Now it sounds more like the game system I know.”
Jung Si-woo smirked and placed his hammer, the Black Wolf’s Paw, into the inventory. The hammer then disappeared, and the shape of the hammer appeared on the grids of the inventory. 2X4, a space that really fits a large weapon! He could feel the handle of the hammer as he put his hands inside the grid. He nodded and pulled out his hand. As a test, he muttered inventory again, and the grid disappeared before his eyes.
“It’s very simple.”
“That’s because everything in Sky Castle is made for the convenience of the Player. Now, if you remember these two things, you won’t stand out wherever you go. Of course, other players who are sensitive to magic could easily detect you.”
Then, Soo Ah-rin turned around and pointed at the ring of light that appeared near the altar. The ring was as big as the fire ring a tiger might pass through at the circus.
“What do you think that is?”
“I think we can go in there!”
“Yes. I told you that things are tailored to the player’s convenience, right? It looks exactly like the dungeon gate of Sky Castle. You can get out of the Ant Cave through that.”
“Ohh! I have a question!”
“Ask me!”
Soo Ah-rin, who felt like a teacher, waited for his questions with a twinkle in her eyes.
“If I go out with my clothes like this, I think rumors that I’m a flasher will spread all over the town. Can’t we be transported somewhere out of the public’s eyes?”
“Ah…”
In conclusion, no. Jung Si-woo, who escaped from the underground dungeon through the ring, ran back home faster than anyone else could ever have.
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