MTLNOVEL Ch. 12
Chapter 12 - Nest (1)
[ Stat Points: 10
Skill Points: 6 ]
Hmm.
I stroked my chin as I looked at the window that appeared before my eyes.
Since I had fooled Mr. Kim Jae-han, there was no reason not to use this now.
‘What should I put points into first?’
First, the use for the stat points was decided.
[Kim Gyu-sik]
[Lv.6] [Guardian Angel Buff Applied]
[ Strength: 1 -> 4
Agility: 1 -> 4
Durability: 1
Health: 1 -> 4
Luck: 1
Mana: 1-> 2 ]
Strength, which directly increased attack power.
Agility, which improved movement speed.
And Health, which increased stamina and allowed me to sustain battles for longer.
I evenly distributed the points among these three stats, and invested the remaining one into Mana, which increased my skill usage.
As soon as I entered a dungeon, there would be many instances of close-quarters combat, so all these stats were essential in such situations.
‘Then, what to link from here…’
I opened the skill window additionally and checked the list of skills I could take.
Of course, many powerful skills could be unlocked through combos between various classes, but even so, the most used lineage was set.
The vanguard-type.
The reason it was used the most was remarkably simple.
‘Because it's efficient.’
The core skills of the vanguard-type all boasted some of the best versatility in the game.
‘There's another reason too.’
The rear-guard types couldn't exert much power with just their skills if they didn't have the proper equipment.
As for the support types… well.
They showed unbelievable efficiency later on, but it wasn't a stage to worry about right now.
The class's own characteristics weren't helpful for now.
Although it seemed not to be the case for the one among the main characters who held the grand title of ‘Saintess’.
‘It's a bit early to meet her now.’
In the first place, that person belonged to a religious group that was treated almost like a cult by Climbers right now.
So there was no reason to contact her for the time being.
‘Then…’
I sorted out the suitable ones from what I could take now.
[ Mastery: Sword / Vanguard: Low-grade ]
[ Proficiency with swords increases slightly when equipped. ]
[ High-speed Maneuver / Vanguard: Low-grade ]
[ Momentarily accelerates movement. ]
Mastery types helped when handling本格的な weaponry, and High-speed Maneuver gave me superior mobility, albeit momentarily.
Both were quite cost-effective.
‘Though it's a bit expensive…’
When taking basic-grade skills, I only needed to invest 1 point, but from low-grade onwards, 2 points were deducted for each.
Of course, considering their immediate use, it wasn't a waste at all.
“…Why are you staring blankly into the air by yourself? You said there was a place to go?”
I got up as I heard the voice of Seo Ah-in, who had approached me at some point.
“I wasn't spacing out, I was preparing.”
“Preparing?”
“Yeah.”
I replied with a smirk.
“Because we're about to do something a little rough.”
***
Dungeon.
It was a word that signified the home of Demonic Beasts drawn to the Mana emitted by a powerful artifact.
It was no exaggeration to say it was the most dangerous space in this world, aside from the Tower and its surrounding Fields.
Of course, the artifacts sleeping here were mostly things that lived up to the word ‘powerful’.
That was why as soon as a dungeon's location was discovered, guilds of all kinds would immediately organize an exploration team.
Also, compared to the Tower conquest, which required a forced march with limited supplies and no quitting midway, dungeon exploration was much safer.
Because one could stop the conquest at any time and use a return item.
‘Though that means it's usually not a place to be trifled with…’
If you only considered combat difficulty, some vicious dungeons were on par with the main content, the Tower conquest.
The dungeon Seo Ah-in and I had just entered didn't fall into that category.
E-rank dungeon ‘Bug’s Nest’.
The rank wasn't very high, and the things that appeared inside were at most E-F rank Demonic Beasts.
This was a difficulty that could be cleared just by handling Seo Ah-in well.
After all, her skills alone were at a level that even large guilds would covet.
Right.
That was true, but.
“…But still, that's not it.”
I stopped Seo Ah-in, who was about to do something rash just three minutes after entering the dungeon.
As soon as she saw a bug's shed skin lying at the cave entrance, she tried to tear a return scroll as if having a seizure.
After a bit of a squabble—“I'd rather die than go in there!” “Okay. Then go in and die.”—and after taking a few measures, including physical contact.
I was able to grab Seo Ah-in by the scruff of her neck and drag her into the dungeon.
All the while, she was ceaselessly muttering something with dead eyes.
“What does not kill me makes me stronger. What does not kill me makes me stronger…”
“…”
What a show.
“Get a grip. You need to know how to fight properly in any situation.”
I tossed out the words as I dragged her.
“Or when are you going to get acknowledged by Mr. Seo Jin-seong?”
Seo Jin-seong.
The guild master of the Hunting Alliance.
As soon as she heard that name, focus returned to Seo Ah-in's eyes.
Then she pursed her lips and carefully asked me a question.
“…How do you know about my dad…”
“If you're going to ask how I know, just drop it. I'm not going to answer.”
We weren't acquainted; I was just the one who knew everything about her.
I knew that the Hunting Alliance treated her father-daughter relationship with him as confidential.
And I knew very well that the reason she, despite her timid personality, was trying so hard to become a Climber was because she wanted to be in her father's good graces somehow.
Of course, such detailed backstories were none of my business right now.
“Ah, they're coming.”
“Y-Yes? Who's coming?”
“What do you think comes in a dungeon? Demonic Beasts.”
Just as I uttered those words, the sound of something slithering along the walls and ceiling echoed throughout the cave.
A sound that reeked of a multi-legged arthropod.
And Seo Ah-in's face, listening to it, was changing colors by the second.
“First...”
Muttering that, I drew the rapier that was tucked into her waist instead.
A blindingly white gleam of the blade rolled smoothly down its body.
[ White Edge / Grade: Rare ]
[ A sword crafted by a skilled artisan with carefully selected materials. Various special materials and enhancement magic have been combined to allow for flexible response in most situations. ]
[ Enhancement: Cutting Power
Enhancement: Durability
Enhancement: Mana Accumulation ]
Hmm. As expected.
It was a weapon befitting the daughter of the Hunting Alliance's master.
This was even more so considering that applying a single enhancement magic required splurging hundreds of millions.
Among these, the one to pay most attention to was Mana Accumulation.
It was an item that allowed the person holding the sword to use the Mana within it.
It meant that even I, with a Mana stat of 2, could draw upon Mana for a short while like a fairly skilled Climber.
“Wh-What are you doing?!”
“I'm a reasonable person too. I'm not going to push you to suddenly do something you couldn't do before. So.”
I said that and gripped her weapon.
Perhaps due to the mastery skill I had just taken, it felt like it stuck to my hand even though it was the first time I had touched it.
And to this.
[Observation]
Cheat key on.
The path to victory was calculated in the blink of an eye.
And the most efficient ‘method of combat’ was instantly visualized as if pounded into my brain.
“The demonstration begins. Watch carefully.”
***
To Seo Ah-in, the man named Kim Gyu-sik was an enigma itself.
If asked in what way she felt so, she would honestly be at a great loss for words, but.
‘…Where in the world did a person like this pop out from.’
Being the daughter of a family that ruled a large guild was a position where one couldn't help but know many things, even if she didn't want to.
Due to the people she met, high-level information was bound to come in just by breathing.
New promising Climbers, who would carry the future, were one of them, and Seo Ah-in knew most of the related things from the time she entered the boot camp.
And.
This man was a person who did not belong to any of those categories of information.
An extra, like dust, that no one paid attention to.
In fact, until she was provoked during the graduation exam, Seo Ah-in herself hadn't even known of his existence.
And yet.
It should have been so.
“…”
Where in the world did he hone such skills?
---!!
The white gleam of the sword shone sharply and drew an arc even in the dark cave.
Demonic Beasts in various insect forms popped out from all directions and lunged at Kim Gyu-sik, but each time, they missed due to his high-speed movement that exquisitely dodged into an empty space.
With every breath, a swath of them was swept away by the sword strikes that flowed out.
‘It's certain he has never properly learned swordsmanship.’
From her perspective, who had held a sword for as long as she could remember, the way he handled the sword was quite crude.
It could be said that his movements lacked even a basic knowledge of swordsmanship.
At least, considering the feelings she had for this man, she was certain she would feel no guilt in evaluating him that way.
“…”
But Seo Ah-in was a person with a terribly upright personality.
In short.
She didn't want to belittle that man with such an evaluation.
Because the way that man was fighting now was, without a doubt, the ‘correct answer’.
So perfectly that she didn't even feel angry about him taking her weapon.
‘He's like a machine…’
It felt like he was grasping the entire flow of the battlefield that changed every second.
His position at every moment, the target he attacked, the path he moved next.
Everything was as perfect as a tightly woven net.
The ideal of efficiency she had always dreamed of was right there.
‘It's strange.’
However, that feeling dominated Seo Ah-in's mind.
‘He said he was from the slums.’
That's what she heard from Yoo Ho-jun.
She herself had never been near a slum, but she knew well what it meant to be from there.
An environment where every day was a struggle for survival. A hell where selling the future to live today was the only way of life.
From such a place.
A jewel that shone so brilliantly had emerged.
‘…Is that even possible?’
Because Seo Ah-in herself had reached the realm of a genius, she couldn't help but feel a wonder close to fear at that man's skill.
She, who had trained with full support under the best environment and the best teachers, was at this level.
A person of the same age as her had built up that much skill in the slums?
Without any proper combat experience?
It was naturally an impossible thing.
That was a miracle of a level that couldn't be explained even by a heaven-sent genius.
Seo Ah-in tightly shut her mouth and looked at the man before her.
‘…What kind of person are you, really.’
***
[ Level Up! ]
[ Lv.6 → Lv.7
Stat Points +2
Skill Points +1
All status abnormalities are cured. ]
Yes, sweet.
Leveling up this quickly was probably because my level was still low, but still, being able to pull in as many points as possible right now was definitely a good thing.
“Hey, thanks for letting me use it.”
I said that and returned the White Edge to Seo Ah-in.
But her expression as she took it didn't look comfortable.
“Why the sour face?”
“You.”
Seo Ah-in, who had been staring intently at me, suddenly opened her mouth.
“…Why did you keep pretending to be weak at the boot camp?”
“Pretending to be weak?”
“With this level of skill, you could have drawn everyone's attention at once. The treatment would have been much better too. Why did you remain at such a rock bottom?”
Because I was actually weak.
There was such a simple answer, but she probably wouldn't be convinced even if I said that.
“Um, well. I had my reasons.”
“…”
Seo Ah-in's eyes narrowed.
It was a look that said, ‘I knew it’.
“…As expected. You had a reason you couldn't stand out, didn't you?”
“What?”
“It's nothing.”
Saying that, Seo Ah-in took the sword from me and walked past me with a meaningful expression.
What's with her?