Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Level 2 Player

Ant Nest (2)

Jin-su steadily hunted the swarming Worker Ant Devourers and Soldier Ant Devourers using the Ice Barrier and Freezing Declaration. In his heart, he wanted to move immediately to find the Queen Ant, but right now, dealing with the swarming Worker Ant Devourers and Soldier Ant Devourers was already overwhelming.

[Blessing of Hwangsin has grown.]

[Blessing of Hongsin has grown.]

Just by hunting steadily, the blessings grew. This was not the first growth but the third growth. It was the result of steadily accumulated level ups and catching numerous Worker Ant Devourers.

‘Since the monsters are one type, it’s convenient to accumulate achievements and also convenient to grow the blessings.’

Achievements could be obtained based on 1,000 and 10,000 Worker Ant Devourers, and title growth was based on 2,222 and 22,222.

‘Now it increases by 42.2% each.’

After the number of items whose levels can be fixed increased to 22 and the fixed level increased to 122, the stat increase width rose from 32.2% to 42.2%. Quite satisfying, but there was also a regrettable point.

‘The blessing exclusive skills don’t increase.’

As the item level fix grew to Level 122 22 items, the blessing exclusive skill fix also grew to Level 122 22. The problem was that the blessing exclusive skill Jin-su possessed was only Status Window Switch.

‘What’s the use of being able to make 22 of them Level 122 when there’s only one blessing exclusive skill.’

From Jin-su’s perspective, it was a situation the same as a good-looking but empty persimmon.

‘Rather give a blessing like class level or physique level fix.’

Both of Jin-su’s classes, Ice Dragon Mage and Blood Demon Swordsman, were remaining at Level 2. Therefore, not a single mid-upper class skill had manifested.

The physique was also still remaining at Level 2.

‘Let’s wait and see.’

Right now there’s only one, but if the blessings continue to grow, he had the conviction that someday they would give a blessing exclusive skill.

‘A blessing that fixes skill levels has already come out.’

Then a blessing that fixes class level and physique above Level 2 will clearly come out too.

‘Since the basic stats increased, the Shadow Summons will also have become stronger.’

The ant nest is an environment not good for the dark-type class Blood Demon Swordsman to be active. As such, it was hard to use the Shadow Summons. But just as there is a pair for straw shoes, there was a time when the dark-type class Blood Demon Swordsman and Shadow Summons could be utilized even in the ant nest.

It was the time of sleeping.

“Let’s stop here today.”

At Jin-su’s words, Shin Su-a’s face darkened.

“Already?”

Jin-su was momentarily flustered. Shin Su-a who always brightly brightened her tired face and liked it when he declared today ends here. But today was different.

She was gripping the staff stained with the bodily fluids of Worker Ants with eyes dyed in strange madness and making an expression full of regret.

Momentarily, the sense of guilt that he had abandoned a fine kid surged in.

“Yeah, we have to rest to hunt again.”

Jin-su said while forcing the sense of guilt in.

“Okay. You’ll leave the Dragon Tooth Soldiers and Stone Golem outside the Sanctuary, right?”

Shin Su-a who forced the regretful expression away asked Jin-su as if natural.

“Yeah, but I’ll leave the Shadow Summons outside the Sanctuary, not the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.”

“Then do so and tell me when preparations are done.”

At Jin-su’s words, Shin Su-a nodded indifferently and answered. Jin-su retrieved the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, switched the status window, and summoned the Shadow Summons.

Pasasak!

As the mana supply was cut off, the Ice Barrier deployed by the Freezing Mage quickly broke down. Along with that, the movement speed of the Ant Devourers that had slowed due to Freezing Declaration became faster.

“Now deploy?”

At Shin Su-a’s question, Jin-su nodded.

Hwaaaak!

Shin Su-a activated the Sanctuary skill. A safe zone was deployed.

“Kiiik!”

“Kiik! Kiik!”

The Ant Devourers charged toward the Sanctuary, but it had no meaning.

‘Kill the monsters.’

Jin-su gave the command to the Shadow Summons to catch the monsters.

Seogeok! Jwaak!

Kwaaaaang!

The Shadow Summons began to sweep away the Ant Devourers that had swarmed toward the Sanctuary at a terrifying speed.

Kung! Kwajik!

Shin Su-a’s Stone Golem also continued the battle while endlessly trampling the Ant Devourers.

‘Find a place with more larger Ant Devourers.’

Jin-su gave a separate command to the Shadow Assassin.

Seureureuk!

While the other Shadow Summons were beating the Ant Devourers, the Shadow Assassin seeped into the shadows. The underground cave full of thick darkness had the optimal environment for the Shadow Assassin to act.

‘It’s fortunate that the Status Window Switch skill level became Level 122.’

Thanks to that, the cooldown reduced to 2 hours and the stacks increased to 22. With this degree, it was a level where he could switch between dark-type and holy-type status windows in real time during combat and use them.

‘The movement radius of the Shadow Summons also increased to about 20 kilometers.’

If lucky, he might be able to find the Queen Ant before waking from sleep. The problem was when he couldn’t find it.

‘The cooldown of the Shadow Summons is the problem.’

It reduced to 12 hours. But the problem was that if he switched the status window to holy-type, the cooldowns of the dark-type status window skills don’t decrease.

‘Although the Shadow Summons became stronger, they can’t catch all the ant swarm charging from all sides.’

For efficient hunting, the ice-attribute skills possessed by the Ice Dragon Mage were needed.

‘Well, he should be able to grasp the approximate location at least.’

The Queen Ant is under strict escort by the Giant Soldier Ants. If he finds a place within a 20-kilometer radius where many Giant Soldier Ants are gathered, it’s success.

‘If he can’t find it, he’ll have no choice but to bear inefficient hunting and a bit of risk.’

Although catching large quantities of Ant Devourers to level up and obtain achievements is good, he couldn’t miss the opportunity to achieve an impossible feat.

***

Jin-su and Shin Su-a who slept soundly and woke up had a simple breakfast.

“Wow! Really enormous.”

Shin Su-a who was having breakfast opened her mouth wide while looking around the Sanctuary. All kinds of items were piled up full around the Sanctuary. Even though they acquired items and sold them at the auction house before deploying the Sanctuary yesterday, they were piled up a lot.

“Really a lot.”

If the Inventory level hadn’t become 122, he almost wouldn’t have been able to recover all the items.

“It seems the Stone Golem broke.”

Shin Su-a said with a regretful expression. The Shadow Summons were fine, but the Stone Golem wasn’t.

“Just summon it again. The cooldown is over, right?”

“Yeah.”

“After the meal, when the Sanctuary is released, summon it right away.”

“Okay.”

Jin-su and Shin Su-a had breakfast peacefully while conversing.

“Kiiik!”

Kwajik! Seogeok!

Kwaaaaang!

In the meantime, a quite fierce battle was taking place around the Sanctuary. The Shadow Tanker swung a shield, the Shadow Warrior split the bodies of the Ant Devourers in two with a greatsword, and the Shadow Archer pierced hundreds of Ant Devourers while firing five arrows per second.

The Shadow Mage swept away thousands of Ant Devourers every time he cast an attack magic skill.

Even so, the front line was still being maintained.

Because the speed at which the Ant Devourers were replenished was faster than the speed at which the Shadow Summons swept them away.

‘I thought there might be Shadow Summons that get extinguished.’

They weren’t destroyed during the battle, and although precarious, a bit of mana remained.

All of this was a result possible because the Shadow Summons became Level 122. As the skill level rose, the influence due to Jin-su’s stats and blessings strengthened, and the mana of the core also increased greatly.

Also, the fact that most Ant Devourers are Worker Ants that can be called trash mobs must have had a big influence.

‘But if they pour out to this degree, even if I find the location, moving might be impossible.’

To break through, he can somehow go. The problem was that the speed would obviously slow enormously.

‘Did he find the Queen Ant?’

Jin-su concentrated his mind on the Shadow Assassin. The information the Shadow Assassin obtained entered Jin-su’s mind.

“Oho!”

A smile bloomed at the corners of Jin-su’s mouth. The Shadow Assassin excellently performed the mission. He didn’t discover the Queen Ant Devourer. But he found a passage where many Giant Soldier Ant Devourers were gathered.

From that passage, Worker Ant Devourers and Soldier Ant Devourers were endlessly spewing out.

‘It’s certain there’s a hatchery.’

If he found the hatchery, it’s over. Because the Queen Ant will be continuously laying eggs inside the hatchery.

‘The problem is breaking through to there.’

Through the Shadow Assassin’s memories, he knew the path. The problem was whether he could reach there.

‘Let’s try.’

Until now, they received pincer attacks from Ant Devourers on both sides. But if he perfectly blocks one passage with an Ice Barrier?

‘The number of individuals attacking will be reduced by half.’

It seemed somewhat doable.

‘The Shadow Summons’ mana is also almost at the point of depletion.’

No matter how much the core’s mana increased as they became Level 122, having a limit is a natural thing.

“Shall we release now?”

Shin Su-a who finished breakfast asked Jin-su.

“Yeah.”

The moment Shin Su-a released the Sanctuary, Jin-su switched the status window. Then the Shadow Summons disappeared as is.

“Ice Barrier, Freezing Declaration, Dragon Tooth Soldier Summon.”

Jin-su cast skills in succession. Then one wall was blocked by a huge Ice Barrier. On the other side, the Dragon Tooth Soldiers revealed their appearances in a rush.

‘Go.’

According to Jin-su’s command, the 12 Dragon Tooth Soldiers made from the White Drake’s teeth took the lead, and the Dragon Tooth Soldiers made from Lizardman teeth followed behind.

“Stone Golem Summon!”

Shin Su-a also summoned the Stone Golem again and put it into battle.

“Ice Storm!”

Jin-su cast an area magic attack skill and actively broke through the path.

“Kiiik!”

“Kiik! Kiik!”

But advancing wasn’t easy. Because as many Worker Ant Devourers and Soldier Ant Devourers died quickly, more numbers of Worker Ant Devourers and Soldier Ant Devourers swarmed.

‘Really persistent.’

Jin-su who had conquered an ant nest on a higher floor of the Tower before the regression. At that time, it took over 3 months to exterminate the ants of the ant nest and catch the Queen Ant.

‘Then and now, they really swarm stupidly.’

Comparing Jin-su’s combat power and the level of the Ant Devourers, now was easier than before the regression. The problem was that there was no time.

Before the regression, whether 3 months or 4 months, time was abundant. But now, there was no leeway to leisurely subjugate the ant nest like before the regression.

‘I have to catch the Queen Ant unconditionally within 2 days.’

Even if he can’t catch it, it’s not a loss. Because he did enormous power-leveling and obtained an enormous amount of loot. But that degree didn’t satisfy Jin-su.

‘If the Shadow Assassin hadn’t found out where the Queen Ant is, maybe.’

Since he found out where it is, he has to catch it unconditionally.

Jin-su and Shin Su-a advanced forward while steadily defeating the Ant Devourers that poured in without rest.

They hunted Ant Devourers without rest time. Lunch was eaten while holding the staff in one hand and swinging it. But no matter how much they went forward and forward, the movement speed was only too slow.

“Kiiik!”

Kwajik! Peogeok!

‘Enormously hard.’

As they headed toward where the Queen Ant Devourer was, the ratio of Worker Ant Devourers decreased and the ratio of Soldier Ant Devourers increased. And finally, Giant Soldier Ant Devourers began to appear.

Kung! Kung! Kung!

The attack power and defense of the Giant Soldier Ant Devourer with a huge body that fills half of the huge underground cave were enormous.

Kwajik! Udeudeuk!

The Dragon Tooth Soldiers made from Lizardman teeth were powerlessly cut like styrofoam toys by the jaws of the Giant Soldier Ant Devourer. On the other hand, the attacks of the Dragon Tooth Soldiers made from Lizardman teeth didn’t land on the Giant Soldier Ant Devourer at all.

“Ice Piercing Arrow.”

Kwajik! Kwajik! Kwajik!

He continuously fired Ice Piercing Arrows. Although they lodged somewhat deeply, it didn’t seem like they dealt big damage.

“Ice Explosion.”

The moment Jin-su used the linked skill.

Kwaaaaaang!

The Giant Soldier Ant Devourer died.

‘The mana consumption is too large.’

If the mana consumed to kill a Soldier Ant Devourer is 10, the mana consumed to kill a Giant Soldier Ant Devourer was close to 50.

“Kueoeoeong!”

Pueok! Ppagak!

The Dragon Tooth Soldiers made from the White Drake’s teeth were overwhelmingly stronger than the Giant Soldier Ant Devourer. But because the defense was high, it took over 10 seconds to clean up one.

The problem was that the number of Dragon Tooth Soldiers made from the White Drake’s teeth was only 12 units. As the number of Giant Soldier Ant Devourers joining began to gradually increase, the speed of advancing forward began to slow sharply.