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Ui-Wang Dungeon #6.

Among the Chungram guildmembers, this dungeon is notorious for making their bodies ache for a day when they come out of it. 

While the dungeon is not so dangerous that their lives are put in danger, they have to fight for multiple hours non stop because of the continuous swarms of monsters. Even if they’re awakened ones, as humans, there are limits to their stamina, so naturally, they get tired too.

But today.

[And Win].

Yoo Gyung Woo has used this skill thousands of times before. It has the power to squash or shove away enemies with an invisible force.

Since the skill makes wide-range attacks possible, Yoo Gyung Woo has used it often in Ui-Wang Dungeon #6, and so he knows the effect of the skill well. This skill is so strong that it can kill tens of monsters all at once….

No, he thought it was strong.

Today, Yoo Gyung Woo reflected on his arrogance. 

The word “strong” is used to describe a scene like the one happening in front of him right now.

With the command he’s memorized, Yoo Gyung Woo’s mana swirled and his skill activated. Though he couldn’t understand the pure strength behind his attack immediately after he used it because the skill lacks a physical form….

– KWAAANG!

The skill hit not only the monsters, but also the dungeon’s walls and floor indiscriminately, making a loud sound as it did.

Of course, it wasn’t only the sound that was loud.

The monster in front of his eyes is an insect that resembles an ant and reaches two meters in height. Though its skill is nothing special, it uses its hard body to attack and deflect, making it no easy opponent.

Yet at least 100 of these monsters were swept away by Yoo Gyung Woo’s skill just now.

Normally, the monsters would’ve only received a couple of wounds from them bumping into other monsters, but right now, even the monsters in the back had been completely crushed.

He basically killed not only the monsters flying at them, but even the hundreds of monsters charging towards them from the back.

“This is crazy….”

Yoo Gyung Woo opened and closed his hand as he witnessed this staggering strength. Even though the skill came from himself, it was unbelievably strong.

Seeing the monsters gathering again, Gyung Woo was going to attack, but something bothered him. A feeling both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Yoo Gyung Woo’s skill, [My Fellow Soldiers]. Although this skill lets him sense when his comrades are in danger, he usually only senses it when the feeling is strong, in especially dangerous situations.

But the feeling right now is much weaker than usual. Like the difference between being cut by a knife versus by a piece of paper.

Still, unable to ignore it, Yoo Gyung Woo turned to check. When he did, he saw Seo Jung Wan, one of Chungram’s guildmembers, using a shield skill in order to block an attack from a monster.

The situation’s not so dire that it should’ve been detected by his [My Fellow Soldiers] skill. A direct confrontation with a monster is just slightly disadvantageous for Seo Jung Wan because he’s a magic-type hunter whose attacks are generally wide-range attacks.

[Conquer].

Using a telekinesis skill, Yoo Gyung Woo pulled Seo Jung Wan over to his side. Seo Jung Wan bowed to Yoo Gyung Woo, who brought him out of danger. 

“Thank you, Vice-Guildmaster-nim.”

“Why are you, a magic user, getting so close to a monster? Be careful.”

“No, but…. I feel like I’ve become invincible today. I guess I’m a little excited.”

Seo Jung Wan chuckled in embarrassment. As a 23-year-old, he has a tendency to be impulsive, but it looks like Seo Jung Wan is even more stimulated today than usual thanks to [Blessing of the Star].

“Be careful.”

Though Yoo Gyung Woo warned him to be careful, he understands where Seo Jung Wan is coming from.

To be honest, Yoo Gyung Woo feels like he understands why Joo Yiwon always looks at him with such arrogant eyes now.

Overwhelming strength.

The power that’s in his hands right now makes it seem laughable that he had such a hard time before.

Since Joo Yiwon is tens of times stronger than Yoo Gyung Woo is right now, how weak must the other guildmembers have seemed to him?

A skill that gives such a buff that Yoo Gyung Woo can understand where that bastard with a terrible personality is coming from, any hunter would be excited about this.

On top of that….

‘I don’t think all it does is raise stats.’

The Hunter Association monitors the activity and analyzes the combat ability of hunters that are ranked A-rank or higher. As dungeons render modern-day weapons useless, the number and quality of hunters is directly related to a country’s safety.

Chungram Guild has been receiving such documents from the Hunter Association through various routes, so Lim Seung Joo’s recent growth has been abundantly clear. 

It’s not that his stats or skills suddenly jumped. He doesn’t have any item that particularly stands out either.

But the reason his abilities have suddenly improved so much is because of Lim Seung Joo’s movements, or in other words, his swordplay.

A lot of hunters that rely on physical attacks tend to learn martial arts. Even though they say that a hunter’s stats and skills determine their combat abilities, what ultimately sets hunters apart is their physical body and innate strengths.

Not only did Lim Seung Joo learn how to use a sword, but, since he used to be an athlete, his movements are very fluid.

However, those movements have now leaped to the level of a skilled master. Even if his stats and skills were taken away, Lim Seung Joo would probably be able to easily cut through E-rank monsters with a single sword.

Lim Seung Joo isn’t the only one that Yoo Gyung Woo noticed this change in.

It has been confirmed that the respective combat abilities of Heo Sori, who isn’t here today, and even No Name’s recently recruited guildmembers are all improving in different ways.

In other words, Jiho’s skill, [Blessing of the Star], doesn’t only give awakened ones a temporary buff, but it can also refine an individual’s innate strengths themselves.

Indeed, this skill has the power to promote a growth that nearly resembles evolution.

Though the skill is nice….

‘It’s dangerous.’

After the fissures appeared, it was common for people to secretly sell awakened ones with useful abilities. Although rescue missions are happening, there are still awakened ones being exploited for their skills all around the world.

If Shin Jiho’s ability spreads, there’ll be quite a number of black organizations that want him.

But despite Yoo Gyung Woo thinking it dangerous, he doesn’t really feel a sense of crisis.

‘After all, Yiwon is there….’

Unless they want to make an enemy out of Joo Yiwon, who would dare to abduct Shin Jiho? If Shin Jiho gets abducted, Joo Yiwon would chase the abductors to the end of the Earth just to kill them. No, he wouldn’t kill them, he’d make them wish that he had killed them instead.

Plus, as long as Shin Jiho doesn’t go out of the country, the chance of him being abducted is low. 

There’s no awakened one crime group that has managed to set its roots in Korea. That’s because Joo Yiwon’s crushed every sprout and burned out even the tiniest of branches. 

Thanks to Joo Yiwon, hunter society in Korea is so transparent that there’s no corruption to be seen.

‘There’s probably no need to be overly worried….’

Is what he thinks, but Yoo Gyung Woo can’t completely shake off his unease.

‘Recently, Jiho’s been swept up into a dungeon and he was even attacked.’

Unlucky events have been happening to Shin Jiho one after another. And on top of that, because the of the drop in the accuracy rate of the fissure prediction device, society has become more dangerous.

‘Kim Tae Yong is suspicious too….’

Chungram wasn’t always wary of Mireu Guild. However, after Mireu kept showing a suspicious amount of interest in Shin Jiho, Chungram has become so.

Although Kim Tae Yong is pretty clean and Mireu is a guild that works for public interest, as long as they don’t know Mireu’s true intentions, they can only be wary of them.

“Hm.”

Feeling complicated, Yoo Gyung Woo stopped and looked around.

The swarming monsters had, at some point, been completely wiped out.

Yoo Gyung Woo thought about moving on since he could still feel the effects of [Blessing of the Star] on himself, but Shin Jiho came up to him.

“Let’s take a short break.”

“Break?”

“Yes. There are a few people that the skill is wearing off for.”

Though he could feel it working just fine on himself, Yoo Gyung Woo easily nodded.

Although [Blessing of the Star] was still in effect for Yoo Gyung Woo, who had only received it once in the beginning, the skill had worn off for most guildmembers in the middle, so Jiho had to re-cast it on them. It looks like there’s a condition that affects the skill’s duration on people.

“Listen up. We’re thinking about taking a break here.”

“Ah, already?”

“It’s not ‘already’. And according to Hunter Shin Jiho, there are a few people who [Blessing of the Star] is wearing off on.”

“Ah, it wore off for me.”

“Me too.”

“Good, then let us take a break here. I will give three hours; grab a bite to eat or rest your eyes for a bit.”

Despite being put through a cycle of fighting and marching through the dungeon for seven hours already, the hunters still looked bright-eyed. Yet their bodies must’ve been feeling the fatigue, as everyone welcomed a short break.

After setting up a camp and barrier to rest in, the guildmembers, who are usually too tired to care about whether they’re lying on a sleeping bag or the floor, were all gathered in one area.

Right next to Shin Jiho.

Guildmembers from Chungram and No Name all gathered around Shin Jiho as if he was a celebrity and chattered excitedly.

“Wow, Guildmaster Shin, you are awesome! It was many times more amazing than I had heard.”

“I want to take an assessment test like this.”

“That’s doping.”

“Wow, how is this possible? Normally, we wouldn’t have made it even half this far.”

“We might actually set a new record.”

“Can I have an autograph?”

Flustered by the unexpected request, Jiho clumsily printed his name out. The people around him burst into laughter at this.

Laughing awkwardly with them, Jiho looked around and found a guildmember standing off to the side.

A girl with dark skin and dark hair was watching this commotion from a distance. 

Feeling a strangely probing gaze, Jiho stared at the girl. He opened her status window.

“Huh?”

And he was taken aback by what he found.

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LaZ Bird Corner

Jiho deserves the celebrity status. 

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