Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Level 2 Player

Hwangryong Guild

“They fell for it easily.”

“This much is easy. Contact the guild master right away.”

“Got it.”

The players affiliated with the Hwangryong Guild left the place as soon as they witnessed Jin-su and Shin Su-a exiting the undead hidden dungeon. Since they could not win against opponents of this level with their own skills, antagonizing them was no different from suicide.

The moment the mage player tried to activate a communication-type skill.

Thud!

A sharp blade lodged itself in the neck of the mage player.

“Keok!”

“It’s an assassin!”

“Kill them!”

At the same time as the mage player’s death, the other players reacted agilely. However, the assassin’s movements rendered those efforts of theirs useless.

Slash!

“Aak!”

Thud!

“Cough!”

Every time the pitch-black blade was swung, the players lost their lives one by one.

“Hieeek!”

“Run!”

In the end, the players’ choice was escape.

“S-save me! Keok!”

“Kraaak!”

The tanker player ran away blindly, leaving behind the screams of his comrades.

‘Rescue stone.’

Then the existence of the rescue stone floated up in his mind. The moment he quickly took out the rescue stone and tried to activate it.

Slash!

The right arm that was holding the rescue stone was cut off entirely.

“Aaaak!”

The tanker player screamed at the top of his lungs from the pain of his right arm being cut off.

Crack!

At that moment, a metallic hand that felt cold gripped the tanker player’s neck.

“Keok! Keok!”

The tanker player was swept up in the fear of being suffocated by the pressure that made it hard to even breathe, let alone scream.

Step, step.

“Are you affiliated with the Hwangryong Guild?”

Along with the sound of footsteps, Korean was heard from behind.

“Keok! Keok! Keok!”

Even if he wanted to answer, he could not speak because of the rough hand that was gripping his neck as if squeezing it.

“Release.”

Srrrk!

With those words, the hand that was gripping the tanker player’s neck released.

“Cough! Cough! Heok! Heok! Heok!”

The tanker player coughed and inhaled rough breaths, sucking oxygen into his lungs.

“Recovery.”

When the opponent cast a recovery skill, the pain felt in the right arm gradually subsided.

“You’re from the Hwangryong Guild, right?”

In a state where he had sucked plenty of fresh oxygen into his lungs and the pain of his right arm being cut off had also eased, the opponent’s question dug into his ears.

“If you answer honestly and obediently, I’ll spare your life. Conversely, if you lie or don’t answer, I’ll peel the flesh off one by one from your head to your toes.”

There was no killing intent. There was also no sign of excitement. The opponent spat out words that were horrifying just to imagine in a calm voice. That made it even more terrifying.

“Y-yes, I’m affiliated with the Hwangryong Guild!”

The tanker player, terrified, quickly opened his mouth. To the tanker player who had barely escaped the pain of his right arm being cut off and the fear of being suffocated, the most important thing was his own life.

“Why were you waiting for me in front of the hidden dungeon? Is it because of the Hwangryong Guild-affiliated party that died near the starting city?”

“Yes.”

“Explain in detail.”

“In the party that was wiped out in the starting city, the guild master’s sworn younger brother and real younger brother...”

The tanker player spilled out all the information he knew.

“Things got twisted like that.”

The opponent frowned with an expression full of irritation.

“Um, you clearly said you would spare me...”

The tanker player, who had suddenly become scared, carefully asked.

“Since it’s a promise, of course I have to spare you. Instead, you’ll have to guide the way a bit.”

“Yes?”

“First, guide me to the location of the Hwangryong Guild branch in the city you were staying in.”

“T-that...”

Cold sweat formed on the tanker player’s face. When he was spilling information a moment ago, his mind had been empty from the desire to live. However, once he felt certain he could live, a bit of reason returned.

‘They’re thinking of attacking starting from the guild branch.’

Only then could he realize the fact that he had sold out the Hwangryong Guild in order to live.

“Why, do you dislike it?”

The opponent asked while wearing a gentle smile at the corners of his mouth as if it was fine to refuse as much as he wanted if he disliked it.

“N-no. I’ll guide you right away.”

The tanker player was extremely afraid of the gentle smile that had bloomed at the corners of the opponent’s mouth.

***

‘Their personalities were trash-like. But they were guys with good connections.’

The moment Jin-su confirmed through the shadow assassin that the party waiting in front of the hidden dungeon was the enemy, he gave the attack order. However, he did not order a complete wipeout.

Because he needed a guy who would give information.

‘So it was a party that included the sworn younger brother and real younger brother of Guild Master Jucheonguk.’

If the guys who thought of Jin-su and Shin Su-a as prey and got reverse-killed were not on extremely close terms with the guild master of the Hwangryong Guild, there might have been room for compromise.

‘Sworn brothers are the deepest relationship among Chinese people’s connections.’

Sworn brothers could be seen as real blood relatives.

‘On top of that, a real younger brother is also included.’

From the moment he killed the sworn younger brother and real younger brother of the Hwangryong Guild’s guild master, compromise was impossible. From the perspective of the Hwangryong Guild’s guild master, Jin-su and Shin Su-a were no different from irreconcilable enemies.

‘Even if that guy is a cold-blooded person without any sense of loyalty or blood ties, he has no choice but to move.’

To Chinese people, connections were quite important. In particular, forming a sworn brotherhood was no different from a vow to live a lifetime together as a shared fate.

The sworn brother and real younger brother with whom he had formed a connection were murdered, yet he does not take revenge? There would be no Chinese guild members who would trust and follow such a guild master.

‘And it’s not like the Hwangryong Guild is the only guild created by Chinese people.’

If the rumor spread that he failed to take revenge, it was as clear as day that the prestige of the Hwangryong Guild itself would fall to the ground among Chinese people.

‘If they’re opponents I have to fight anyway.’

He had to strike first in an advantageous situation.

‘Looking at what the party whose leaders are the sworn brother and real younger brother do, I can pretty much tell what kind of guys they are.’

To begin with, the inclination of the Hwangryong Guild is close to that of a PK guild.

‘Although there are cases where the Hwangryong Guild is classified as not a PK guild depending on the inclination of the guild master of each floor.’

Looking at what the party that the guild master’s sworn younger brother and real younger brother belonged to did, there was a high probability that the Hwangryong Guild on Floor 100 was a PK guild composed of PK players no different from the Chabel Guild.

‘First, let’s gradually annihilate starting from the branch.’

The Hwangryong Guild has a larger scale than the Chabel Guild. It is not simply a problem of scale, but the average skill of the guild members themselves is incomparable.

That much, he had to approach carefully.

‘It’s fortunate that the Hwangryong Guild elites weren’t sitting around for over a month.’

If such a thing had happened, there was a high probability that he would have been suddenly ambushed in a disadvantageous situation.

‘I also need to prepare.’

Jin-su had grown many Blessings a lot in the undead hidden dungeon. He had also acquired many items and earned many points. However, he had not yet properly made synthesis skills by consuming the increased level-fix stacks and points.

‘Let’s prepare halfway and move.’

Jin-su moved toward the nearest city.

***

‘Surveillance is being done thoroughly.’

He did not bring the only surviving tanker player into the city. Outside the city, he was continuously monitoring through the shadow assassin.

‘Let’s make synthesis skills first. Shall I start with tanker skills?’

In the case of tankers, the power fluctuation of main skills including protection skills was severe depending on the numerical values of durability stats and health stats.

‘It’s good at times like this that all stats are the same.’

Jin-su’s all stats were the same at 922. Also, all stats had increased by 92.2%. That was why no matter which class’s skills he learned, he could exert the best effect.

‘Starting with protection-type skills.’

The reason tankers are sturdy is not only because their durability stats are high, but the linkage with protection skills also plays a big role.

‘Even basic protection skills are fraudulent.’

The basic option that is even in the lowest-grade protection skills is precisely the nullification of normal attacks and skill attacks below a certain level.

Physical strikes with swords or spears, or skill attacks that use mana, do not work at all.

‘Although it is said to be affected by durability stats.’

The fact that the attack itself is nullified was no different from enormous fraud.

The player who was the owner of the Ring of Revival before regression was called a moving fortress. The reason he was called that was simple.

‘Because he really possessed fortress-level defense power.’

Even if hundreds of players rushed in and swung swords and thrust spears, they could not leave a single scratch. Even if he took the attack skills launched by dozens of mage players with his bare body, he was fine.

‘It was really amazing.’

It was a level where even seeing it with his own two eyes, he could not believe whether that was defense power that a single human made of blood and flesh could possess.

‘Well, conversely, the attack power was terrible.’

That shortcoming was covered by his comrades.

‘On top of that, he even had the Ring of Revival that is now in my possession.’

Even if they somehow pierced that formidable defense power while enduring all kinds of sacrifices and made him a wreck, he would use the revival skill and revive perfectly fine, so from the enemies’ perspective it would have been enough to make them go crazy.

‘Can I become like that?’

The probability that it was impossible was high.

‘Because that guy’s core skill was separate.’

Also, the skill of handling a shield and the sense of using protection skills were things Jin-su did not have.

‘I probably can’t become exactly the same.’

However, he could get as close as possible.

[Using Class Change Certificate – Dark Guardian Knight.]

[You have changed class to the dark-type class Dark Guardian Knight.]

Jin-su changed class to tanker. Then he immediately entered skill synthesis.

[Do you want to synthesize the skill Dark Guardian Wall and the skill Barrier? Success probability 100%. Upon success, the synthesis skill Dark Guardian Barrier will be created.]

[Yes.] [No.]

[Synthesis succeeded.]

[You have acquired the synthesis skill Dark Guardian Barrier.]

He synthesized skills while spending points like water. To raise the success probability, he purchased all kinds of common skill books. Even if the synthesis success probability was low and he had to leave them, it was not a waste.

‘I don’t need to make an effort to raise skill levels.’

If he just uses the Blessing, the levels rise on their own. Therefore, the more skills the better.

‘Also, they can become materials for synthesizing skills of other classes later.’

Jin-su made the tanker’s class skills and exclusive skills into synthesis skills one by one. At the same time, Jin-su’s defense power, which had simply relied on stat power until now, began to rise rapidly.

[Do you want to synthesize the skill Curse Absorption and the skill Self-Recovery? Success probability 98%. Upon success, the synthesis skill Curse Absorption Recovery will be created.]

[Yes.] [No.]

[Synthesis succeeded.]

[You have acquired the synthesis skill Curse Absorption Recovery.]

“Jackpot!”

Jin-su’s mouth opened wide. The methods to overcome curse skills were high mental power stats and a healer’s dispel skill. However, tankers had many class skills that resisted curses.

In the case of the Dark Guardian Knight, that was precisely the Curse Absorption skill. It was a skill that absorbed curses and conversely raised curse resistance, and when it was synthesized with the Self-Recovery skill, an amazing result appeared.

‘Absorbing curses raises curse resistance and self-recovery power.’

Just raising curse resistance was a jackpot, and on top of that a self-recovery option was attached.

‘To the point that using the Dark Guardian Knight class change certificate now feels wasteful.’

The class level is only 2.

The skill level that Jin-su can currently fix is also only 522.

‘Even this much will be no problem for the time being.’

If he moves to higher floors, the probability that problems will gradually arise is high.

‘Although if I have points I can obtain the Dark Guardian Knight class change certificate again.’

From Jin-su’s perspective, the fact that he had to waste points through duplicate investment was inevitably heartbreaking.

‘When the hell are the class skill level fix and synthesis skill level fix Blessings coming out?’

Only when those come out can he suck the class change certificates dry without point leakage. Also, he could continue to use good synthesis skills like now in the future as well.

‘Well, they’ll come out someday.’

Even Jin-su does not know in what direction the Blessing will grow. That much, it might never come out forever. However, Jin-su deliberately erased that possibility from his mind.

If such a thing happens, he will never be able to use unique-grade class change certificates or class change certificates that are hard to obtain because their quantity itself is small.

‘If I endure the enormous point loss, I would be able to use them.’

But even so, he can only obtain a few basic skills.

‘They will definitely appear. They will appear.’

Jin-su diligently continued making synthesis skills while forcing himself to think positively.