Chapter 75: Awakening (End) “Last warning. Withdraw…”
“You talk too much.”
Muyoung moved first.
Anguish vibrated slightly as it cut through the air.
Werewolves were monsters with strong wolf-like tendencies.
All of a sudden, it jumped up in the air and roughed up its fur.
After landing on the ground, it bent its upper body, half-opened its eyes and prepared for battle.
“You lost your last chance.”
Last chance?
Muyoung shrugged his shoulders.
Muyoung was already familiar with werewolves’ agility.
At the same time, he realized that the levels of this arena were considerably high.
‘As I go further down the floor, stronger opponents will show up.”
Currently, this was the 5th floor.
You gained the authority to go down a floor if you won 10 times.
Of course, stronger monsters were bound to show up the lower he went.
Therefore…
‘Slowly, I’ll gain everything that I can.’
The thing he desired right now was, of course, onz.
To adjust the betting ratio and to make personal gains.
The monsters would only notice something was wrong, once Muyoung’s pouch became fatter later.
There was no one who could control their ‘strength’ more artistically than Muyoung.
Even Wung Chunglin, the leader of Forest of Death, marveled at Muyoung’s ability to finely control his muscles that even allowed him to control the slightest tremors.
How could monsters notice such exquisite skills?
No matter how good their dynamic visual acuity was, if he was determined, they could only be confused.
“Make your frantic last-ditch effort! Because I will hunt you today.”
The werewolf spoke with certainty.
The bloated up body seemed like it could even break a rock and its sharp teeth and claws seemed like it could cut through everything.
Not just the werewolf.
Everyone who was watching their fight thought this way.
That the result of this fight was decided from the beginning.
That a dokkaebi couldn’t win against a werewolf!
However, Muyoung silently raised Anguish.
He didn’t care about anyone else’s gaze or thoughts.
Whatever the situation was, he was more concerned with how he would proceed.
What was more.
‘A hunt you say?’
Muyoung laughed.
It could believe in whatever it wanted.
On top of that, it even said what Muyoung wanted to say so it was quite commendable.
Slash!
The wolf’s head separated from the body and flew through the air.
It happened in a blink of an eye.
However, the werewolf’s eyes were filled with suspicion.
“Grrr! You fucking bastard!”
“Damn. It was so close….”
The monsters that watched Muyoung and the werewolf fight were swearing.
A close match.
It was a fight that people truly thought was won by a paper-thin margin.
No, if you just simply looked at the fight, the werewolf was constantly superior.
In reality, Muyoung’s body was also totally wrecked.
However, it lacked that one single blow and in the end, Muyoung was able to turn the tables around.
Like an episode of a drama, an intense fight had occurred.
“Ha, a dokkaebi won a werewolf?”
“It’s probably beginner’s luck. If the sword bounced off in a different direction, Kaum would’ve won.”
While Muyoung was getting attacked by the werewolf, Anguish bounced out and it coincidentally it ripped the werewolf’s eye.
There was no room for doubts.
Beginner’s luck.
If Muyoung hadn’t ripped the werewolf’s eye, it was a fight the dokkaebi couldn’t win.
Even in the long run, his stamina would have lagged behind and he would have been doomed.
Of course, no one would believe everything was calculated by Muyoung.
No one.
‘I can see all the paths of a sword.’
Muyoung scratched his cheek.
When he gained a swordmaster skill, his understanding of swords greatly increased.
Now, he could see most of the paths a sword would take.
As he placed back Anguish to his waist, a huge electronic board in the air rang with a beep! sound.
Afterwards, the results appeared in front of Muyoung.
The 500 onz arena fee which Muyoung and the werewolf provided were added up and returned to Muyoung.
From just one fight, he gained almost 3,000 onz.
If he just continued this for a few more times, a few ten thousand onz didn’t seem hard to save.
‘Oloness.’
Before leaving the arena, Muyoung looked at Oloness who was standing by himself on top of the battleground.
Slave devil. The one who was called civilian slaughterer, his opponent ended up not appearing.
‘Betting ratio was 1.01?’
More amazingly, you could say that the ratio was truly overwhelming.
Everyone was certain Oloness was going to win.
With the opponent forfeiting, all the bets were nullified but it clear evidence that Oloness was that much of a ‘target to avoid’.
‘He’s the strongest monster among the monsters gathered here.’
Muyoung was now certain.
The level of fighters was high overall but the one on top was Oloness.
Why would a devil who would have been above a mid-rank under Demon God Vassago’s command be in a place like this?
‘It’s something I need to overcome.’
Muyoung was determined.
An encounter with a devil wasn’t planned but it seemed like a good thing.
It was a golden opportunity to test his limits and to see how well his strengths will work against a devil.
‘If the path I’m walking is right…’
He would win, if not he would lose.
Muyoung’s eyes deeply sunk.
*
22,000 onz.
Muyoung didn’t place bets on other fights.
He just placed all his onz on his own fights.
Consequently, he was able to get hold of 22,000 onz with only 3 wins.
However, continuous wins would only leave room for doubts.
No matter how realistically he fought, doubt was something like that.
If he was to lose once or to forfeit at a time like this, he might be able to get erase that doubt.
However, there was something that was bothering him before that.
‘These types of trials always have the opportunity to place a record in Solomon’s Hall of Fame.’
Solomon’s Hall of Fame.
If he was to increase the rankings, he would obviously get an appropriate reward.
He was at crossroads, whether he was going to place his name on Solomon’s Hall of Fame and to receive a reward or get onz to profit from it.
‘Some things I can purchase with onz are slaves and general merchandise.’
He did go to the other shops but there wasn’t really much in the Weapon or Armor shops.
From the beginning, in an arena where monsters fought, it was highly unlikely for them to sell equipment for humans to use.
Instead, there were a few things in the general merchandise store that caught his attention.
‘If I continue to win, I could buy all the things I wanted.’
Since general merchandise were things he could buy whenever he wanted with onz.
However, the rewards from the Hall of Fame were most likely to be rare equipment.
Ones that were hard to get and very difficult to find.
It seemed like a waste to lose this opportunity.
That was why, Muyoung decided to walk the path of leaving his name in the Solomon’s Hall of Fame.
The problem was that it was highly likely for humans much stronger than Muyoung to have participated in this Arena.
There was a possibility for a stronger monster than Oloness to exist in the lower floors.
To leave a record in Solomon’s Hall of Fame, he needed to become stronger than he was now.
‘The arena fights are 1 vs. 1. I can’t use the undead here.’
Muyoung made his decision.
‘I will use the Soul Exploitation Skill.’
He was going to use it as his last resort but since he already made his decision to use it, it was best to act fast.
To be fully prepared for every situation, he needed time to get used to his strengthened body.
Muyoung turned his Status Viewer and read the Soul Exploitation skill description once more.
Skill Name: Soul Exploitation (F)
Description – Absorb undead with an art score above 70 to increase your stats. There is a very low possibility of obtaining one of the skills the undead possessed.
The efficiency varies depending on the Art Score, Skill Rank and the material of the undead.
He was limited to only undead with art scores above 70.
Prince and the Avengers, Blazing Spear Soldier, Sorceress of Lightning, Black Sun Warrior, Baltan and Heidegger.
Among them, there were two undead that were slowly becoming less useful as Muyoung got stronger.
‘Blazing Spear Soldier and Sorceress of Lightning.’
The two were undead he created in the Free-for-all Trial as he entered the Underworld.
They were quite skillful for young rising stars of the Five Great Clans.
However, after becoming undead, their path to growth was blocked. At the time, they were very useful but it was obvious that their usefulness was slowly decreasing.
Muyoung summoned the two in his cramped room.
“I need you guys to become my strength.”
It was like a death sentence.
They were already dead but it was crueler to even exploit their souls.
But Muyoung spoke those words as if nothing was wrong.
“I will gladly, give myself.”
The Blazing Spear Soldier bowed his body.
It was the same for the Sorceress of Lightning.
The two were subordinated undead.
They had no right to refuse in the first place. As undead, they were to die or live depending on Muyoung’s orders.
Muyoung slowly moved and placed his hand on top of the Blazing Spear Soldier and the Sorceress of Lightning.
It seemed like a waste but he had to do it.
The strength of the two would become nutrients and live inside Muyoung’s body.
‘Soul Exploitation.’
Soon, a bright soul appeared above both of the undead’s head and as he grabbed them a change started to occur.
Blaze!
Muyoung’s whole body burst into flames.
The flames stimulated the specters in Asura Path.
The specters made the flames wrap Muyoung even thicker and produced a strange scene.
As if they knew what would happen next, they produced a strong wall so that no one could interrupt him.
Afterwards, a round ring started to appear on top of Muyoung’s head.
One, two, three, four… and five.
The rings with the energy of the five elements, wood, fire, metal, water, and earth, slowly circulated around him.
And as the five rings that circulated him started to enter Muyoung’s nostrils one by one, he trembled as if he was hit by lightning.
At the same time.
Muyoung’s body slowly floated.
‘Essence is of the materialistic realm, energy is the root to life and god exists in the world of the mind.’
His mind was blank.
Like a monk spreading the teachings of Buddha, Muyoung quietly repeated the words over and over again.
You could say he became one with selflessness.
He was not disturbed by anyone and no one could disturb him.
In a white world, Muyoung only repeated those words.
On the other hand, the wall of fire and the specters was becoming stronger.
Everything was cut off and Muyoung became the path that accepted everything.
If he was touched by water, he would become water and if he was touched by fire, he would become fire.
He was able to grasp a perfect purity that all souls and elements could pass through.
However, the time that purity could be sustained was extremely short.
It was short but it felt everlasting.
And at that crossroad of purity, Muyoung heard someone’s voice.
– What do you want to be? Make your decision.
[1] Three Essence Congregation of the Crown – ???? (三花聚顶). Primary Five Qi – ???? (五气朝元). But honestly not sure what they really mean.
[2] The Three Treasures – Junggishin (???(精气神)) – Essence, energy, spirit/god, the three parts to Chinese medicine. In the novel it is explained through Muyoung’s thoughts, essence(jung) is something in the materialistic level, energy(gi) is the root to life and god(shin) exists in the world of the mind.
Thank you SnowTime for helping! ??
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