Chapter 16

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 16

BOOOOM―!!

Junbeom’s straight punch blew apart the centipede’s body.

Amid the scattering bodily fluids and chunks of flesh, every member of Team 3 could be seen with their eyes wide open.

“Eek...”

“Ugh...?”

“?!?!?!”

Every single one of them reacted as though they couldn’t understand what had just happened.

“Ah, sorry. I got distracted for a moment.”

Only Junbeom, the one who had thrown the punch, remained calm.

Thud!

Hwang Yeonu, the tanker of Team 3, collapsed to the ground after the strength left his legs.

He had thought he had failed to draw aggro and driven the rookie to his death.

But what the hell was this?

The one who died wasn’t the rookie, but the centipede.

“...”

“...”

Team Leader Nam Sangjin and Kim Jonguk, who had been busily chewing Junbeom out in the vehicle earlier, were equally dumbfounded.

It was as if they had been bewitched by a ghost.

‘J-just now... in one hit?!’

Nam Sangjin knew well from fighting them.

Just how disgustingly hard the shells of the centipedes here were.

Even Kim Jonguk, who had the highest raw Strength stat on the team, had to smash them more than twenty times while covered in enhancement buffs just to barely break one.

Yet not only had Junbeom shattered it with one punch, he had outright blown apart the entire body.

‘It didn’t even look like he used a skill...? No, more importantly! Didn’t they say he was a swordsman?’

At that moment, a screech pierced Nam Sangjin’s mind, which had gone completely blank.

-Hissss!!

“Gasp, Team Leader?! Behind you!”

“Ugh! R-right!”

This was no time to stand around stunned.

There were still five more centipedes left here.

Nam Sangjin quickly regained his senses and raised flames in both hands, about to stick to their existing strategy.

Whoosh―!

An afterimage swept past his vision.

It was Junbeom.

‘I’m so frustrated I’d rather just run in myself.’

Wooooooong!!

Golden Divine Power gathered over his fists as he rushed toward the centipede swarm like a flash of lightning.

Then came the barrage!

Bababababam!!

Babababoom!

And in the blink of an eye, the bodies of five centipedes were crushed into pulp.

‘As expected.’

Just as he predicted, even without a weapon, one hit with his bare fists was enough.

Compared to the Contaminated Gate ‘Mouth That Spews Calamity,’ this Gate was easy enough to make him yawn.

So why should he keep wasting time while catering to Team 3?

He would rush straight to the deepest part like this.

Reducing the clear time was the shortcut to an S+ rank clear.

If he could gather Mana Crystals and obtain S+ clear rewards while he was at it, wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?

Thud―!

The final centipede’s body, now with a hole punched through it, collapsed to the ground.

Junbeom casually shook the bodily fluids off his fist and glanced sideways at the team members.

“Let’s go.”

“...”

Leaving Team 3 behind, speechless and staring blankly, Junbeom moved forward.

The rookie was going ahead alone while leaving the team behind.

Yet not one person said anything about it.

____________

-Hissssss!!

-Shrkrrrk...?!

The centipedes screamed.

At this rate, we’re all going to die!

...Or so they seemed to be saying.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!!

How could cries of despair not escape from the centipedes’ mouths?

A human like some kind of natural disaster was massacring them at a ridiculous speed!

Naturally enough.

The closer they got to the deepest part, the number of centipedes bursting out of the ground increased exponentially.

But what did that matter?

Bababababoom!!

Every time Junbeom fired off a Divine Power punch, they were all swept away in a single blow.

At this speed, it took only eight minutes to break through from the entrance of the dungeon to its latter section.

And during those eight minutes, all Team 3 did was...

Simply follow behind Junbeom with their minds completely blown.

What could they possibly do when he killed everything by himself up front?

Team 3 had suddenly boarded a bus... no, a high-speed train.

“T-Team Leader? What the hell is that guy?”

Kim Jonguk asked Nam Sangjin, who was running beside him while staring only at Junbeom’s back.

“D-does that make any sense? Didn’t you say he was a total beginner who only awakened a week ago?”

“...How the hell would I know even if you ask me, you bastard!”

The most confused person here was Team Leader Nam Sangjin.

After all, he was the one who had personally received Junbeom’s—no, ‘Kang Junu’s’ profile documents that morning.

Recently awakened, zero Gate experience, swordsman class, level unknown.

...Did the management bureau give him someone else’s file?

How did those movements possibly look like those of someone with no Gate experience who only awakened recently?!

‘Don’t tell me! Did he lie about his level... no, that’s impossible.’

The maximum entry level for this Gate was 15.

Anyone above the entry level couldn’t enter.

In other words, no matter how high that rookie’s level was, it couldn’t exceed 15.

‘But if you only look at him, his combat power seems like he’d be in the thirties!’

Surprisingly, that was almost correct.

In terms of stats alone, Junbeom was currently on par with a Player in the mid-to-late thirties.

Of course, there were cases where even low-level Players boosted their stats by covering themselves in all sorts of top-grade items.

But that rookie...

‘He’s not covered in anything. He’s wearing a tracksuit?’

No matter where he looked on the rookie’s body, there was nothing that particularly looked like an item.

...

No matter how much he thought about it, he simply couldn’t explain the massacre unfolding before his eyes in real time.

“Team Leader, what do we do? At this rate, it looks like we’ll reach the deepest part soon.”

“...Huh!”

“Should we just let that guy kill the boss too? Man, it feels a little awkward getting carried by the rookie, but free progress sure feels good.”

“You like it?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t, bastard.”

Nam Sangjin felt a sense of crisis.

As was always the case among public servants, rumors spread quickly.

What if Team 1 and Team 2 heard about what happened today?

“At this rate, those bastard team leaders are going to say things like this to us. ‘Wow, heard you spent all day following behind a rookie?’ ‘How was the bus ride?’ Jonguk, would you like that?”

“W-well, since only we know what happened inside the Gate anyway, doesn’t it not matter?”

“Setting that aside, our pride gets crushed! How much do you think that rookie is looking down on us inside his head!”

When they entered the dungeon, the system had clearly stated.

The clear rank and the rewards according to rank would be calculated individually.

At this rate, that rookie would take the highest rank and the best rewards.

As team leader, Nam Sangjin could never allow that, not even if it killed him.

While Nam Sangjin ground his teeth.

Right on cue, as they seemed to enter the deepest area, a gigantic crystal emitting a brilliant glow came into view in the distance.

It was the crystal that was their clear objective.

And one centipede stood guard before the crystal like a gatekeeper.

It was at least twice the size of the other centipedes, and its shell wasn’t brown but red.

At a glance, it was obviously the boss of this place.

‘If I destroy that bastard and the crystal with my own hands!’

It wouldn’t be impossible to ultimately surpass the rookie’s contribution.

Killing the clear objective and one boss counted for more than killing a hundred trash mobs.

“Ujin, buff me.”

“W-which ones?”

“All of them, man. All of them!”

Swoooosh!!

Song Ujin, Team 3’s buffer, poured every buff he had onto him.

A mana amplification buff, vitality enhancement buff, physical resistance buff...

A full-stack buffing spree made possible because, thanks to Junbeom, he hadn’t spent even a speck of mana getting here!

Nam Sangjin grinned as he felt power and mana boiling up from deep within his body.

“Good work.”

Those words were not directed at Song Ujin, who had cast the buffs, but at the rookie.

It was a declaration that from now on, he would take care of the boss and crystal himself.

BOOOOM―!!

Meanwhile.

The moment they entered the deepest section in earnest, more centipedes than ever before burst out.

“I’m seeing enough centipedes here for a lifetime.”

Junbeom frowned as he looked at the densely packed mass of centipedes.

-Hissssss-!!!

-Kishiiiit―.

Every centipede in the deepest chamber rushed toward Junbeom alone.

It was the so-called sixth sense of beasts.

They had instinctively determined who the most dangerous human here was and chosen to focus their assault on him.

‘Perfect!’

Nam Sangjin, who was running toward the crystal, inwardly cheered.

Thanks to the centipedes targeting only the rookie, the path to the crystal had opened completely.

The only one that hadn’t rushed toward Junbeom was the boss centipede.

[Centipede Commander Lv.15]

Nam Sangjin checked the information floating above the boss’s head.

Its level was the same as his.

Usually, you had to mentally add about five levels when it came to a boss, but with his entire body covered in buffs right now, he thought he could defeat it alone.

-Kieeeeeeeek!!!

The Centipede Commander roared at Nam Sangjin, who was loitering in front of the crystal.

「Flame Spear」x3

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!!

Nam Sangjin summoned three spears of flame.

Normally he could only summon one, but now, with the mana amplification buff, he could summon three at once.

“Die!”

BOOOOM!

The flaming spears scorched the air as they flew and struck the side of the Centipede Commander’s body.

“Kyaaaaaagh!!!”

The Centipede Commander writhed in pain as searing heat pierced through its hard shell.

Normally, instead of using magic like this, they would first have to break the carapace with a physical-type skill.

But the power of the buff-maximized ‘Flame Spear’ allowed him to skip even that process.

That wasn’t the only reason the shell burned and melted.

‘Focused strike!’

Nam Sangjin hadn’t launched the ‘Flame Spears’ randomly.

A single point on its flank that looked relatively soft.

He concentrated entirely on that one spot and drove all three spears into it at once.

It was the same principle as consecutive drops of water piercing solid stone.

BOOM! Fwoosh!

BOOM!!!

As though refusing to give it even a moment to breathe, Nam Sangjin continued firing ‘Flame Spears’ at the Centipede Commander’s flank.

Then, at a certain point.

At last, the strategy of choosing one point and focusing on it bore fruit.

‘I can see it! The flesh!’

The carapace finally burned away completely, revealing the flesh beneath!

Now if he just fired a spear into that spot, the creature would...!

-KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE―!!!

“?!!?”

The Centipede Commander spread its jaws wide and unleashed an ear-splitting screech.

An unidentified sound wave echoed through the entire dungeon and swept across Team 3.

[You are afflicted with ‘Status Abnormality: Fear.’]

“...!...?!”

Fear!

In the middle of casting a skill, Nam Sangjin’s entire body suddenly stiffened.

It wasn’t only Nam Sangjin.

“G-gasp...!”

“G-gak.”

Every member of Team 3 exposed to the Fear froze stiff and broke into cold sweat.

‘F-fuck. There was definitely nothing in the report about it using Fear?!’

Had the guilds that challenged this place first omitted that information?

...No, they probably failed the raid before they were even hit by Fear, so they hadn’t known it existed.

This was bad.

They had been hit by a boss monster’s Fear without any preparation whatsoever.

-Kishiiit!

“Y-you, f-fuck...”

The Centipede Commander’s blood-red compound eyes.

Looked down at Nam Sangjin, who couldn’t move a muscle.

His blood ran cold and goosebumps rose all over his body.

To make matters worse, the carapace that had been burned and melted away had already finished regenerating at some point.

BOOOOM!!!

“Guuugh!”

The Centipede Commander’s body moved like a whip and smashed into Nam Sangjin.

Spitting blood as he flew, he rolled more than five times before finally coming to a stop.

“Ughhh...!”

“T-Team Leader?!”

Nam Sangjin twitched, unable to properly move his body, perhaps because the blow had been critical.

The teammates who should have helped him were still trembling because the effects of Fear had not completely worn off.

‘We’re fucked...’

There had definitely been a warning sign before the Fear.

When it raised its head and tried to open its jaws.

But because he had been impatient, his field of vision narrowed and he failed to notice it.

At this rate, all of Team 3 was going to be wiped out―.

‘Why is that bastard fine?!’

―Not.

The rookie seemed completely unaffected by Fear and was casually shaking the bodily fluids off both hands.

Apparently he had already finished cleaning up the centipede swarm while Nam Sangjin was wrestling with the Centipede Commander.

‘O-our guys behind that bastard were hit by Fear too, so how the hell is he fine?’

Nam Sangjin didn’t know that mental attacks were completely ineffective against Junbeom.

But there was something else that confused Nam Sangjin even more.

“R-rookie...!”

“Yes?”

“Y-yes? N-not that!! Why, why are you still, just standing there...!! H-hurry, that thing...!”

It was Junbeom’s behavior of not stepping in despite clearly seeing the team was in danger.

“K-kill that thing already...!”

“Huh? But.”

Junbeom tilted his head.

“Didn’t you tell me in the car earlier that when we encounter the boss, I should absolutely not step forward?”

“...”

Oh no.

“N-no, fuck! I almost agreed with you without thinking...! Hey, we’re all about to die here, why does that m-matter...! Eek! It’s coming! Hurry! Hurry!”

-Hissss...

Seeing the Centipede Commander slowly closing the distance, Nam Sangjin flailed.

Its compound eyes were filled with murderous intent, as if it was determined to kill that human bastard no matter what.

“All right. But promise me one thing.”

“P-promise? What promise?”

“If I kill that thing, then while we clear the remaining three Gates afterward―.”

Nam Sangjin didn’t know what he was about to say, but he suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Hand over team leader authority to me.”

“You crazy bastard! How does that make any...!”

-HISSSSSS!!!

“Fine! Promise!”

When he was about to die, what promise couldn’t he make!

Only after obtaining the answer he wanted did Junbeom kick off the ground.

The place he stopped was directly in front of Nam Sangjin, who lay collapsed on the ground.

Right in front of the Centipede Commander.

-Hissssss.

When Junbeom suddenly blocked its path.

The Centipede Commander straightened its elongated body upright.

It had sensed that the human before it was different.

On a different level from those other ones caught in its Fear.

For a moment, silence fell.

The Centipede Commander rolled its compound eyes around as it examined Junbeom.

A question formed in its mind.

Why didn’t my Fear work on this human?

Did my soldiers surround him and block the sound waves of the Fear?

Let’s try again.

-Kie―.

“Shut up.”

Slash!

A single line was drawn across the upright body that had been raised to activate Fear.

The Centipede Commander froze as though time itself had stopped.

Junbeom raised his right arm upward.

Even Team 3, watching this, couldn’t understand what had just happened.

Crack.

Along the line.

The Centipede Commander’s body split apart.

Exactly in half.

“...”

“...”

Nam Sangjin and the rest of Team 3 froze with their mouths hanging wide open.

Without even realizing that the paralysis from Fear had already worn off.

At that moment, Nam Sangjin finally noticed that Junbeom held a long blade in his right hand.

‘W-when?’

There hadn’t even been a motion of drawing a weapon.

No, more importantly.

If he had been carrying a blade that long on his body, there was no way they wouldn’t have noticed it.

‘As expected of a weapon made by Excalibur.’

Junbeom whistled as he looked down at the long blade gleaming with chilling sword light.

=====

<​Moonlight Blade>

-Grade: Legendary

-Required Level: 10

-30% chance to inflict ‘Bleeding’ on an enemy when attacking.

-Attack power greatly increases against non-human species and beast-type monsters.

-Equipped with subspace storage.

* Evolves when hidden conditions are fulfilled.

=====

That morning.

He had purchased this weapon from the gallery shop for a whopping 50,000 GP.

The moment he saw that the creator’s name was ‘IMadeExcalibur,’ he had rushed to buy it.

It was also the best weapon he could buy with the points he currently had anyway.

‘Putting everything else aside, the subspace storage function is fucking amazing.’

There was no need to carry it around awkwardly on his body.

Because like this, he could place it into or take it out of subspace whenever he wished.

Did an item that only required level 10, yet inflicted ‘Bleeding’ and even had a subspace function, exist anywhere on Earth?

‘Probably not.’

Because the gallery was a place filled with all sorts of monsters who had transcended humanity.

That was why absurd items like this, impossible to judge by human common sense, could exist there.

‘The only thing bothering me is that hidden condition...’

Apparently the item would evolve if the hidden condition was fulfilled.

The idea that it could be upgraded even further was certainly welcome.

But there was absolutely no way to know what that hidden condition was.

‘Well, it’s not urgent, so I can ask Excalibur about that later.’

The boss was dead now, so let’s break the crystal and get out of here quickly.

There were still mountains of Gates left to clear.

CRAAAASH!!

Junbeom thrust out his fist and shattered the crystal into countless pieces.

Messages clearly declaring who had contributed the most filled the air.

[You have destroyed the crystal!]

[You achieve an unparalleled record in number of kills and clear time!]

[Hidden Rank – S+ achieved!]

[You obtain a highest-grade Mana Crystal!]

[Reward calculation will take some time!]

[Your level increases!]

[Lv.13 → 14]

_______________

“Uggghhh.”

Groans drifted out from the Gate entrance.

Soon afterward, an exhausted Nam Sangjin and his team members trudged out of the entrance.

Junbeom came last.

He looked perfectly composed, without so much as a single drop of sweat on him.

‘Th-that monster...’

‘What the hell is he?’

‘Did he turn on some kind of cheat code by himself?’

It was a bizarre sight where the bus driver was perfectly fine and only the passengers were exhausted.

There was nothing strange about Team 3 being worn out, since they had been hit by Fear, and Nam Sangjin in particular had even taken a beating.

The strange one was Junbeom, who had done everything by himself yet showed no sign of fatigue.

“Hmm, the next Gate is in Sinsa-dong... It’s in the same Eunpyeong District, conveniently enough. Good thing it’s not far.”

Junbeom pulled out his phone and checked the list of Gates assigned to Team 3 before speaking to the team members.

“You said your name was Ujin, right? Please heal the team leader. We’ll move to the next Gate as soon as treatment is finished.”

“What? W-wait a second!”

When Junbeom naturally gave the order, Nam Sangjin panicked.

“We just finished one, and you want to go straight to the next Gate without resting? And I’m the team leader!”

“You’re resting right now, aren’t you?”

“...”

“And you made a promise with me earlier.”

“...!”

The promise that if Junbeom killed the boss, Nam Sangjin would hand over team leader authority for the remaining Gates.

Oh no.

“N-no. Even so... We still have to manage the team’s stamina―.”

“I’ll take care of clearing all the remaining Gates myself. You all just need to follow me.”

That was why he had asked for temporary team leader authority.

I’m going at my own pace, so none of you get to complain!

“We are people who devote ourselves to the country and its citizens. That is what you taught me, Team Leader.”

“H-hey, you...”

“For the safety of the country and its citizens, let’s work hard.”

“...”

Every word had come from his own mouth, so there was nothing he could say in response.

In the end, Nam Sangjin could only lower his head.

“Fine. Do whatever you want...”

Some lunatic had joined his team.

_____________

That evening at 6 p.m.

Director Kim Hyeonuk received a report containing unprecedented results.

Author: Nam Sangjin, Strategic Reserve Team 3.

All four Gates in the jurisdiction, including Eungam-dong, successfully cleared.

Achieved ranks: S+ across the board.

“Ha, hahaha.”

A single team had completely cleared four Gates in less than a day.

An unprecedented feat.

But Director Kim Hyeonuk felt as though he knew what was hidden behind the report.

Even just from this short text, he could vividly imagine what happened inside those Gates.

“You... truly are an incredible person, Player Park Junbeom.”

The record had probably only been possible because that man single-handedly grabbed Team 3 by the collar and dragged them forward.

He had roughly expected something like that.

Still, he hadn’t expected all four Gates to be cleared at S+ rank.

“Hmm?”

Just as Kim Hyeonuk smiled and was about to stamp his approval.

A single sentence written at the very end of the report caught his eye.

[We request that temporary member Kang Junu be formally transferred into this team.]

“That Team Leader Nam Sangjin?”

The man was widely rumored to be extremely reluctant to let rookies earn accomplishments.

Yet he had actually made a request like this.

That must mean he had finally thrown up both hands and surrendered to Player Park Junbeom’s ability.

Enough to even abandon his personal greed!

He could understand perfectly.

“Haha. He is not a vessel someone like you can contain, Team Leader.”

Thump.

Kim Hyeonuk stamped the document.

Naturally, the request was denied.