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Chapter 22 – Sky Road (1)

The level of artifacts all differed.

There were a lot of different bases to judge but the most important one was color.

What kind of energy it can absorb.

It could be an artifact that shows its full potential only if it uses the colorless energy in the colorless are or it could be an artifact that only shows its full potential if it uses the red area or energy of the blue area which came after the red area.

Of course an artifact using a higher quality energy would be of a higher level so the level of the artifact changed with the color as the base.

Colorless artifact, Red artifact and so on…

Once you separate them into these levels they are further split up into different levels.

Unless it's an amazing artifact there was no way for it to be worth more than the artifact of a higher color.

The high quality colorless artifacts were inferior to the low quality red artifacts.

So even if you were somebody who flew around the area you were at you needed to slowly increase the standards of your artifact in the middle area and then go over.

Since the weapons from the previous stage didn't really work very well in the next stage.

But sometimes, very unique artifacts came out.

Growing Artifact.

Their uniqueness was that they went through growth.

Just like an adventurer absorbing runes and changing their tune from colorless to red and to orange, the artifact also absorbed something and improved its color.

Not every Growing Artifact was expensive

If it wasn't as good as other artifacts despite you investing a lot into and growing it than it was better to just find a decent weapon the middle stage before going to the next stage

But of cause Growing Artifacts also had different levels.

The child of a dragon would be stronger than others at the age of one and be stronger than others at the age of ten, this gap would only get larger as they grew up.

The Growing artifacts that improved like this and always stayed at the top were called

It was sometimes called because it grew like a dragon, these were the strongest artifacts that even surpassed artifacts on higher levels of color.

From number 1 to 999.

999 items that the Manoros Clan, which were one of the nine pillars, had judged and chosen out with strictly, the strongest items of the ones found so far.

It didn't care whether it was a ring, an armor or a weapon.

You put them in a line and then give them a number.

From rank 1 to 9 were solo numbering.

10 to 99 was double numbering.

100 to 999 was triple numbering.

These artifacts were usually famous by themselves but they would get even more famous depending on who used them.

Because even if a weakling got lucky and obtained these, these would eventually fall into the hands of the strong.

It was harder and more important to keep the artifacts of the otherworld than obtaining them.

If you carry around an artifact too good for you than you lose both your life and the artifact.

And solo numbering <9>, was one of the strongest artifacts that got famous because of Kwang Goonju and something that had made him famous.

Nicknamed [Absolute Ring].

'Kwang Goonju this guy. I wondered where he had obtained this…'

It was extremely hard to obtain but it wasn't that only one existed because it was a Numbering series

Like how despite the strength of a dragon, there wasn't only one of them.

And that was the reason when the people saw Kwang Goonju cause a massacre they tried to find the ring in a manner that would've flipped the Otherworld upside down.

Since the eight powers of the ring that came out when people were merely sketched by it turned them into rags

And the high ranker's weren't an exception to this

But this thing that could not be found anywhere was actually found here.

'Well yeah. If only Kwang Goonju had cleared this mission it's correct that it's something that cannot be obtained anywhere else'

The tutorial area couldn't be entered unless it was at this moment. There was a reason why the adventurers could not find it even if they wanted to.

'Very good'

This place did not reward people because you cleared a hard objective.

Since something that is hard to a weak person is easier than anything to somebody who is strong.

The best rewards come out when a weak person clears an objective that seems impossible at that level.

Just like the hidden piece where Hansoo killed the Carnivorous Beast.

He had expected something like this to an extent. That the artifact he gained here was not something that could be easily thrown out in any of the colored regions.

But who would've expected a Solo Numbering to come out.

As soon as Hansoo put on the ring the ring shrunk to fit the size of Hansoo's finger.

A Growing Artifact that contained eight powers.

It absorbed runes and growed, and every time it rose a level in color it would unlock another power.

The current Nurmaha's ring was a colorless artifact

And because of that there was only one power unlocked.

But Hansoo made a satisfied smile.

'This is it'

The first power.

It wasn't simply a dispel magic that got rid of skills.

It was an ability that could nullify anything from passive skills to even an individual's trait.

Of course it wasn't that the person who got smacked would become a traitless person and lose tons of mana.

The Otherworld wasn't such a easy place.

Just because you obtained a godly sword did not mean that you could become a sword master and just because of an artifact a rabbit could not become a dragon nor a pig become a dragon.

And even if such things existed, these things won't land in the lands of a rabbit or a pig.

And even if it did land in their lands they won't be able to use it because of limitations

And even if they could use it, they won't be able to protect it.

To use it one needed to match the other person's trait or when they use the trait and every time you used it it will cost mana, also the destroyed power will eventually come back.

But the fact that you could cancel the enemy's powers at the right time and in the right place was a huge advantage.

Since by the the time their powers come back, they would've become a corpse.

It wasn't just a Draconic Series.

It was called so because it was already amazing at the colorless stage.

And this was a Growing Artifact, this was just the start.

'It seems like I will need a lot of runes from now on. Though I cannot use it properly yet'

Hansoo touched his ears.

[Kang Hansoo] Strength: 92.3

Stamina: 88.8

Agility: 47.1

Perception: 50.2

Mana: 22

Magic Resistance: 13

Though it was in its weakest state it was still a colorless artifact

To use this thing properly, one's runes needed to be at the colorless stage.

You needed at least one colorless rune and it was better if they were all colorless.

But the current him did not have any colorless rune.

Hansoo pondered for a moment.

To either make a colorless rune first or focus on achieving balance.

There was eight cloud snacks left.

Cloud snack did not work at the colorless rune stage.

Hansoo, who was pondering, made a decision.

'Make one colorless rune first and then achieve balance'

If it's an enemy where he needed to use the colorless rune as well as the Nurmaha's ring, it would be hard to beat him while his balance was off.

And on the other hand if the enemy did not require him to use the Nurmaha's ring then the colorless rune wouldn't be needed as well.

Hansoo, who had made his decision, started to walk out of the Altar slowly.

......…

'Not Bad'

Hansoo mumbled as he looked at his stat screen on the seventh day.

[Kang Hansoo] Strength (Colorless): 0.01%

Stamina: 88.8

Agility: 84.0

Perception: 85.1

Mana: 58.4

Magic resistance: 13

The strength had remained stationary at 0.01%

He had decided that it was good to make one colorless rune in case of an emergency and made it but he could not raise it any further.

Once it turned into a colorless rune then it would only increase after taking colorless runes.

This was the same for Nurmaha's ring.

Since the colorless rune did not come out on the 1st tutorial area, he needed to obtain them from the second tutorial area from now on.

Since in the colorless area, which was the basis for the second tutorial area, both colorless rune and normal runes came out in a good mix.

Since both Strength and Stamina were in demand, hansoo invested by trading all his remaining strength and stamina runes into agility, perception and mana runes.

Mana wasn't needed for Hansoo who did not have a single skill but in order to use the Power Destruction freely it was better to have more mana.

It was a win-win for everybody.

Since agility, perception or mana runes could be traded for a higher price than strength or stamina so people who luckily found these runes quickly brought them to Hansoo and then raised their strength and stamina at a very fast rate.

If Hansoo hunted alone then he would've never been able to make this balance in time.

'Well. I couldn't finish all the missions'

Because he had focused his time on hunting he could not finish all the missions but this did not matter much.

Since he had obtained something more valuable than that.

Taking everything wasn't the important part.

You just needed to take the core factors that will keep you above everyone else as you go up.

Most people thought runes were important but runes weren't always the core factors of strength.

Beasts were everywhere so runes could be attained anywhere and since runes were fair to everybody it was hard to make a difference between others.

Runes were important but the quality trait, skills and artifacts whose strength got multiplied by runes were more important.

Runes would get stacked even if you just kill beasts weaker than you.

But the three factors above wasn't like that. Rare things were limited and because of that gaps would be created.

'Six cloud snacks are left… I filled the food pouch with Goblin Jerky. The Needle has been sharpened well too.'

Hansoo checked the people afar as he checked his belongings.

Though they had gone through a lot in a week, it felt short to some people and long to some people to the point their eyes have changed while some others were still struggling about.

And in the middle of those people he could see Mihee and Sangjin but he did not make any gestures to get their attention.

Since they will get separated soon.

'Well. Let's greet each other with smiles when he meet again'

A fairy appeared through the rip in the air above Hansoo who was checking this and that.

"Everyone! You've worked hard for a week! You've probably guess it by now but there are many people like you outside!"

"…"

"You will now start the second tutorial! The place you guys will live on from now is ."

'…A way up towards the sky huh'

It didn't matter where they went.

The thing they were curious about was something else.

"How many will live there?"

The fairy smiled at this.

"A little bit over ten thousand I think. You will be there for three months"

"…"

"It will be much more fun when you get there. It was hard until now playing with only a hundred people right? How fun would it be playing with ten thousand people. You will make a lot of friends too. Isn't it fun just thinking about it?"

Everyone's face crumpled at the fairy's words.

Even a hundred was this tiring, but ten thousand at least.

And there was a lot of unprecedented things in this one week.

They couldn't even imagine how many things the fairy would do in that three months.

The fairy spoke after watching that scene happily.

"There's exactly 10842… you will start with around 10 to 11 people"

Everyone started mumbling about and then quickly started to group with close friends.

Of course 11 was better than 10.

And the stronger the people, the better it was.

The strongest and most trustworthy ten had to group.

"Miss Mihee! Take me please!"

"Sangjin! I'm pretty useful man! Take me!"

"This bitch! You ignored us until now! Get Lost!"

The fairy laughed at the chaos below.

"Ahahahaha! You don't need to be like that."

"…?"

"It'll be random. Work hard everyone!"

And as soon as those words ended, the remaining 47 were all warped from the first tutorial area.

To one of the random starting areas of the 2nd tutorial area, Sky Road.

Chapter 23 – Sky Road (2)

Hududuk.

Hansoo rose out of his seat and looked around.

'Those evil things'

Why would the fairy leave friendly and strong people together in a group for them be enjoy.

In the small white room, ten people were looking around.

And they were actually rather calm and composed about it and weren't shocked. Just like how people who went through the first tutorial should be like.

Be cautious of your surroundings but do not make it obvious.

But then one of these people grumbled.

"Godammit… there's only ten"

And everyone made a slightly unsatisfied expression as if they agreed.

They were dropped in an unknown place.

They didn't know each other but if there were going to be in harsh conditions wasn't it obvious that having eleven was better than ten.

The man who complained before talked.

"Well. Let's at least introduce ourselves. Since we will probably be working toge…"

Before the man finished talking, the fairy's voice came out from thin air in the room they were at.

And as soon as the fairy's voice came out, everyone didn't say what they were going to and instead focused on the fairy.

"…?"

Everyone made a confused expression at the fairy's words.

"…"

Everyone made a sigh of relief.

Their room had 10. If they were going to balance the numbers then they would probably kill off one person in one of the rooms with eleven people and then start.

And if that happened they might get injured during the fight and even if they manage to kill somebody off without getting injured then they would be cautious of each other.

But the fairy crushed everybody's expectations.

"…Fucking bitch of a fly. I wondered why it was moving things along so smoothly"

One person spat out curses while everyone who had been sighing in relief started to be cautious of everyone else.

And at the same time they looked for the person who was likely to be the weakest to of all.

There probably won't be anybody who they can easily.

If they searched then they might find some but most of them had already been dropped off at the 1st tutorial area.

The people here were people who would not die alone, they would at least stab them back before they die.

And because of this, it was important to find the weakest person to attack with the nine and kill them instantly.

Daechul, who was the first to curse, mumbled inwardly.

'Fuck… there's no way to know since you can't judge from appearances'

If they were all normal existences then you could judge very simply from their appearance.

Since females were generally weaker.

But if you went on like this in this place you neck will fly off.

Since if they had collected runes zealously because they were weaker, crushing any decent male was possible.

Because of this Daechul instead searched for the existence of weapons.

Since if they didn't have a weapon, they would be the weakest.

'The one without a weapon…damn. They all have it.'

Daechul mumbled.

Everyone was gripping intensely onto their well sharpened blade that was shining in the light.

But in this situation, one person was out of the ordinary.

'…Who's that guy holding the needle'

On the waist of the guy standing leisurely in the corner there was a long needle.

'Is he crazy?'

Daechul swirled his tongue.

That thing was sharp but from one look one could see that it was harder to use than a blade with a sharp edge.

And unless that guy was at the level of a fencing athlete there's no way he would pick such a weapon.

But he couldn't act carelessly.

Because if he acted with just that as the basis, the chances of danger was too great.

At that moment a female in the corner looked around as she spoke.

"Aren't we going to act together from now? Let's try to appeal each other. To show each other how much they're worth"

Everyone started to nod at those words.

Since it was still very pressuring to act if they think somebody looked weak.

Because they might be the only one thinking like that.

And if they're unlucky and get into a one on one then things become even more of a headache.

But on the other hand, if they were to talk things out in a circle like this, they can somewhat judge.

As to who was the most useless one here.

Since they were going to act together from now, it was better if they were stronger or have a unique ability.

But on the other hand, if they didn't have such merits then they were useless.

Then the nine could just kill them.

And if that happened then they probably won't get injured.

Daechul pondered for a moment then raised his sword.

It was a little regrettable to show his hidden card but if he hid it and then get ganged upon because he seemed weak then he would just die.

"I'm called Daechul, I'm not sure if you've seen something like this."

And then a humming sound came out of his hands as a shining energy started to flow off from the sword on his hands.

And Hansoo's eyes shone as he saw this.

'Reinforce'

There was a very unique skill among the runes.

If you learned it then you could raise all your other stats while using your mana.

This was called Reinforce.

The user would continuously use mana while raising the other stats for a set duration.

And a few better ones of those people could infuse mana into weapons like that which increases durability and sharpness.

Well, the Reinforce rune that could be attained in the tutorial area wasn't that good in terms of efficiency but it was better having it than not.

Since it raised the battle power as a whole.

Reinforce was part of the runes that were very useful and high priced even out of the numerous skill runes.

The people who had seen this looked around cautiously as they fought each other in words in order to appeal to others.

"I can heal"

"With just that huh. I can…"

They argued as they talked back and forth but since it was a problem with their lives on the stake so the atmosphere turned darker.

If they lost in this dumb show off competition then it meant death.

But Daechul made an expression of leisure.

'It's definitely not me'

It seemed that he wasn't the strongest.

But the skill he had, reinforce, was better than anybody else's.

As long as he wasn't last place.

And that the same time their eyes collected on two people.

It was Hansoo and the girl who first suggested to appeal themselves.

Daechul made a leisurely smile as he spoke.

"I don't think the lady over there has spoken yet"

Then the girl stared at Daechul as she spoke with a laugh.

"I'm called Jimin. What I'm good at…I will show you now"

Than the girl stood up and started to head towards Daechul.

Daechul's caution exploded as he saw the girl move towards him suddenly.

Usually it was a walk that would make his heart beat but his heart rate increased for a different reason at this moment.

"What are you doing? Don't come close."

"I said I'll show you what I'm good at."

And then the girl pulled out a dagger from her inner thigh.

A blackish dagger that did not look normal.

Daechul spat out curses.

"Fuck! Are you all just gonna watch? This is just a crazy bitch!"

But everyone just pretended to listen.

It seemed like that would start fighting each other, why would they butt in.

It didn't matter who died out of the two and even if one did not die, injury was sure to happen so they could just finish them off after.

Daechul, who was looking at this, crumpled his face as he rose the power of the skill he attained, to the max.

The 27 mana that was surrounding his body started get converted quickly into Daechul's stats.

The strength that was around 45 rose to 50.

Not only Stamina, Agility, Perception were raised but even Magic power, physical and magical resistances also rose.

One of the advantages of Reinforce, it raised the stats of resistances which were hard to obtain in the start.

Daechul even added mana onto his sword and swung down with his raised stat.

Kuduk

"Huh?"

Daechul, who had seen the female disappear right in front of his eyes, searched for her in a hurry but then looked towards his chest as he felt a warm sensation surge out from the area of his heart

And in that area the girl had already stabbed the dagger in her hand onto where his heart was.

The girl looked at Daechul as she whispered.

"I'll use the skill well. It seemed like that your skill seemed the best out of these. And even so to the point where it didn't fit your level"

And at those words Daechul realized why she asked them to appeal themselves.

'Fuck…'

Daechul fell soon afterwards and Jimin smiled as she saw the numerous runes and the one skill rune drop from his body like corn.

"My luck is good. It didn't seem like they dropped on a 100% chance. I will take the skill? Ah yes, we should share the stat."

If you monopolize then you will get sick.

Jimin only took the skill rune she wanted and the rest shook their heads while they picked up the runes on the ground.

'Crazy bitch. What did she go through in this one week… at least go crazy nicely'

Hanchul, a man who had been watching the girl, clicked his tongue.

It wasn't that he didn't have to confidence to win.

But it'll be tiring if that crazy bitch charged at him because of a few words so he decided to shut his mouth.

And it seemed like a few others had the same thought as him.

But the fact that that Daechul died wasn't really unjustified.

Since he had a skill that was too good for his level.

The skill Reinforce did really look good.

But it needed to be used by someone who could use it well.

Even if Jimin didn't kill him, one of the others would've.

Killing the weak wasn't the answer.

If they killed randomly with no reason then they would attain hostility and die but in a situation like this where a reason existed, it was basically acting like a thankful cleaner.

It was best if you could kill somebody strong when there was a reason to if you can kill them.

Since if you had to kill somebody anyway, it was best to kill somebody who would spew out the most.

Jimin had lowered them into nine and didn't want to struggle anymore so she sat in the corner.

And soon a voice came out of the air again.

>

Sky Road.

The road to the sky.

"…Crazy Bitch."

"Bitch."

Curses were mumbled out from the surroundings.

The fairy's voice continued in the air as if it didn't hear those sounds.

Sky Road.

A road where you had to go from the 1000 starting points and head towards the topmost single area.

There wasn't only one path.

It was a setup where you would get split up and collide into the people from other starting points.

Though there was something very unique about it.

And then a large amount of light and wind started to pour in from the outside.

"What is this…"

Everyone made a ridiculous expression as they looked at the outside.

The room they were at was currently floating high up in the sky.

A scene that would turn make an acrophobiac shrivel up.

A vast sea could be seen thousands of meters below and in the distance outside the white room a large floating island that seemed much larger than Yeouido.

There was a long bridge connecting their room and the island.

A few other rooms just like theirs were also connected to the island and there were many other islands floating about the same height as theirs.

And the thousands of islands that were floating above them in layers.

The people cried out in gloom as they saw the islands that looked like stairs but too far apart to be called stairs.

'It's been a while'

Hansoo mumbled as he saw the stairs of islands in his view.

Move by moving between the islands floating in the air.

And continue to climb higher and higher.

Every island had rewards you could attain and had special rules or beasts.

'And there's also a trap'

The thing Hansoo needed to do on Sky Road was simple.

He needed to prepare as much as he can in order to pass the final parts of the dungeon. (*Dungeon: Mentioned in chapter 3)

He needed to find every hidden piece and important factors as he climbed the Sky Road.

And the most important thing on the first level of the stairway island was one thing.

He didn't care about the other things but this was a necessity.

'First I need to attain '

As Hansoo set his goal and started to move out, everybody cautiously moved along the bridge.

The width of the bridge was short but it wasn't dangerous because there were side rails.

And while they were doing so, Hanchul spoke to maybe lighten up the mood.

"Well. At least it feels good, it's like an adventure. Let's do well together. If we don't go crazy and move cautiously and slowly…"

Kugugugu

Before Hanchul's words were finished, a faint tremble was felt from the island.

While everyone got shocked and grabbed onto the side rails, a fairy's voice was heard from above them.

"Bitch-like Fly"

Curses came out of Hanchul's mouth as he could not keep calm anymore.

Chapter 24 – Sky Road (3)

As soon as the people got to the land, the bridge got destroyed.

As the people saw the bridge fall down to what seemed like an endless amount of time, they made a horrified face.

If they can't climb up fast enough, then they would fall along with this island.

"Well. The explanations were done earlier so let's decide what to do from…"

Since it looked like they were all from different tutorial areas and were strangers, Hanchul started his story.

But before he could finish his words, somebody started moving.

'…needle?'

The guy with the needle started to walk towards the suspicious looking jungle hesitantly.

Hanchul shouted as he looked at Hansoo.

"Hello there? Do you know where to go?"

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a straight line so you just need to go in a straight line. What's there to think about"

The rest who had seen this made a helpless expression.

Of course there indeed existed a path through the center of the jungle.

An extremely suspicious looking and dangerous looking path where something might pop out.

'What is this guy'

But he didn't seem like someone lame.

As long as he wasn't somebody who treated their lives like flipping a coin, acting like that meant he had confidence.

And at that moment a rumbling sound was heard as the outskirts of the island started to break off.

The exact area that the bridge was attached to just until now.

"…fucking hell."

It meant that it will not let them rest even for a moment.

The people spat out curses as they followed Hansoo.

It was a straight path anyway, there was no other paths.

'It somehow feels like I became a lackey'

Hanchul didn't really feel comfortable but he decided to leave him alone because his ruthless attitude was rather burdensome.

'I'll know once I peel him. Either he's a faker or has something'

Hanchul mumbled as he followed him.

.........

'Let's see. With the central Dormant Volcano as the center of direction… the eighth room on the left of the lava river, so turn rightwards twice and once left…'

The he needed to obtain was a mutant of

And the place he needed to find for this.

The structure of all 100 of the 1st level of the stair islands was the same.

10 white rooms with the Dormant Volcano as the center and forked roads that connected 498 beast habitats and everything else.

So as long as you follow the path as you memorized than you could find the forest.

And as soon as the fork on the road appeared, Hansoo smoothly turned right.

'Well it's actually the same no matter where you go'

The danger was similar no matter which path you took and eventually you will end up on the center where you can move to a different island.

If he wasn't going to find the habitat for the Rune Pattern Snake then he would've just gone in any direction.

Hanchul, who had seen this, asked in confusion.

"Wait. You said you were just going in a straight line before? Do you perhaps know something else?"

Hanchul asked as he looked at Hansoo who was continuously walking off.

He had tested earlier. To see if he could move to the other roads on the side.

But the creator of this island seemed to want them to only move on the paths so they could not walk outside.

Which meant they had to go straight.

Which made sense until now when he decided to go right in a fork on the road like this without hesitating.

Hansoo looked at Hanchul and then spoke.

"I have a psychic power."

"What?"

What was this nonsense?

Everyone who had been following made groans.

They thought he had some sort of navigating skill because he was walking so confidently.

But to think that he had no plans.

"What nonsense is this? What are you thinking?"

Hansoo sighed as he spoke.

"You just need to go that way so why are you acting like homing missiles."

"…"

'Fuck. He's right. After hearing him for a while'

He didn't know why he was following that guy like that.

It seems like that the girl called Jimin and everyone else wasn't weak but were following his guy without saying anything.

'My pride suddenly feels damaged. Do I take it?'

Hanchul shook his head.

It was obvious that if one person moved confidently while others were hesitant that everyone would want to follow that guy.

And more so if the island behind them was getting destroyed one by one.

'Sure. We'll go as you say'

It'll be the same no matter which way they go.

Since that bloody fairy wouldn't have made some parts of the island easier than others.

Hanchul checked the people in the group.

'First, there is a self-proclaimed psychic and a crazy bitch'

Everyone seemed normal but there was somebody else that stood out.

First the person with the healing skill.

From his walk and the fact that he had the healing skill, it seemed like his stats were good.

And the sword that was shining around his waist didn't look normal either.

He probably wouldn't attach something to dangle on his waist if he wasn't going to use it.

If this were a game he felt like a priest, no, it was more like a paladin.

The rest seemed normal but were even more unique.

A couple and three daughters whom seemed around twenty.

Halchul mumbled after seeing this.

"Huh. People come rather well bunched. Thought it was random…"

They got separated on the first area on random.

What are the chances of the family over there coming together.

But Hansoo knew the reason.

'Since it's more fun this way'

There's no other reason. This was it.

They split up relationships created from understandings but left the relationships created from affection.

Since bringing them like had higher chances of created more interesting situations.

'Well. That's just how they want it'

Hansoo, who had stopped his thoughts, stopped walking as he stopped in front of a weird looking tree next to the road.

Hansoo pulled out a kukri instead of the needle that he had on his waist, cut a bit of the wood and then started to chew on it.

"…What are you doing?"

"If you chew on this it gives a slight effect of neutralizing the poison"

"Why do you need to neutralize the poison?"

And then Hansoo slightly pulled on Hanchul's neck.

Kududuk

"…"

In an instant a 3m long snake that stretched down from the trees bit the spot where Hanchul was standing.

'…That was dangerous'

Hanchul got flustered at an extreme speed.

Hansoo chuckled at this.

The one just now was this fast because it was an agility pattern so as long as you are careful of ambushes then it wasn't that bad.

'Rune Pattern Snake'

A unique beast that gained extra stats depending on the pattern on its skin.

The annoying part was that the patterns kept changing.

And if there are mana rune patterns on its body one also needed to be careful of the poison.

Once you get bitten while it had mana runes up then you will be poisoned with a toxin that will steadily burn your own mana.

And whilst the mana burned, your magic power as well as health were also affected.

Of course it didn't burn until you died and the effects will disappear after some time but by the time the effects disappear, you will have become quite a mess.

The bark of the oak tree which it lived in had some sort of antidote-like effect due to it being rubbed against its scales but it was best to just not get bitten by it at all.

Hansoo chewed on the oak bark as he spoke.

"Always be careful of being bit while it has mana runes up and attack when it doesn't have agility runes up. You can dodge the agility runes if you are careful of ambushes but it will still be hard to catch."

"How did you know all th.."

"Psychic powers"

"…"

Hansoo, who had completed his talk, went into the jungle and everyone else stared at each other but followed him in with frowns as they felt the vibrations behind them into the jungle where the snakes were.

............

Kududuk

"Goddamit!"

Hanchul grinded his teeth at the snake which did not die even after getting hit by his sword and had bit into his flesh.

It wasn't that bad because it didn't have mana runes up but he had failed to kill it with in one shot because it had physical resistance runes up.

'Such difficult beasts…'

They were so strong that his body was full of scars from being bit from these guys despite having been in here for only a while.

And the way their runes changed was random.

If it changed according to how the snakes wanted or needed then they could at least see it coming but it was very dangerous due to the random changes that happened at random times.

He had thought that he could kill this snake instantly just now because it had strength runes up but then it instantly changed to physical resistance rune, resisted his attack and bit into his flesh.

His flesh didn't get bit off because it wasn't a strength rune pattern but the spikes that were attached around the snake had turned his flesh into rags.

'Damn… there isn't time to regenerate much either'

Since he had some stamina runes he needed time to regenerate but he constantly heard the damnable island crumble behind him so he did not have the leisure to rest to recover before moving on.

But there was a bigger problem than the snakes.

"Goddamit! Why aren't you guys fighting!"

Only five of the nine had been fighting.

The four in the back were just idling about.

Well they weren't idling to be exact.

Since the guy that looked like the head of the family stood at the back as he slashed off the snakes that flew towards his wife and his daughters.

The man hardened his face at Hanchul's rage.

"I'm sorry. Please understand. I must protect my family"

'Damnit… family means a free pass?"

Then what would happen to the guys fighting in the front.

This was a difficulty meant for 9 people.

The fairy had set the difficulty like this from the start.

But because four people were doing nothing the others were struggling.

If that guy called Hansoo wasn't flying around next to them they would've already died.

Ok. He could understand the family man but why was the guy with the heal, who was holding a sword, wasn't fighting too?

"Hey! Why aren't you fighting!?"

He did not understand.

If he had a healing skill then shouldn't he fight even more aggressively.

And then Kangmin, the guy holding the sword, chuckled as he spoke.

"I don't think I really need to fight. I'll just heal you guys."

"…"

Hanchul's rage skyrocketed.

'This yankee, then why are you holding onto a sword?'

Hanchul started to calm down his mind.

This wasn't the right time to be fighting.

'Yeah. Let's think of him as a healer. A healer.'

Aren't there healers in games.

But Hanchul had to curse at Kangmin's words that came out afterwards.

"By the way in order to recieve heals from me then you must bring runes. To heal all the injuries on you I will take 3 strength runes or 1.5 agility or 1 mana rune."

"This motherfucker…"

Hanchul grinded his teeth.

Was this something a person doing a team play should be saying.

Which means he, who was fighting in the front, should also receive runes.

He wasn't fighting in the front because he wanted to.

That was not normal. From what it seemed from the way he acted, the amount of runes he had wasn't low.

He was probably good at fighting.

And it would be even harder to beat him once he fought while healing himself.

But then to not fight despite having so much battle powers.

'Is this bitch not fighting because then we will get hurt more?'

Since if you set your mind to earn runes from healing, that was the easiest method.

It might be an over exaggeration but there was a high possibility.

Kangmin had heard himself being cursed but he laughed as he spoke.

"But shouldn't you fight more zealously? I think I can hear the island slowly crumble from behind?"

"Goddamit…"

Hanchul grinded his teeth.

That he had fallen into a very nasty situation.

Regeneration was a necessity.

But he had already been injured even though it was just the beginning.

If he didn't heal this then his battle powers will fall and the speed at which he got stronger will slow down because the rate at which he gained runes will also drop.

And if you take into account of the fact that stronger beasts will continue to come out then healing was really a necessity.

If that guy was asking for excessive prices that he would've just killed him.

It won't be easy but if he were to continue then he didn't know how to deal with him once he got stronger than him and continue to treat him like this.

But sadly the amount he offered was a very reasonable price for healing.

It was a perfect amount where he will still profit by not attacking but didn't ask for too much.

And to continue the relationship where they profited from each other.

But this wasn't a situation to make profit of each other but rather a situation where they needed to combine their strengths.

That guy was holding onto the dangerous situation as if it was a chance but this meant their lives will get harder.

Since as long as he took things they will lose something.

'Bitch. The healer is all that huh'

He wanted to just sit and stoutly declare that he wasn't gonna do it but he knew that was a crazy act as he saw the island and road slowly fall bit by bit far behind him.

As he saw it, this guy had understood his worth in that instant and laid down these calculations.

Or he had done something like this in the 1st tutorial area as well.

He had somewhat of an idea how this yankee had gained runes and gotten strong.

He probably wouldn't heal you because you threaten or torture him.

Since if he was somebody who will do that then he would've become a mess during the 1st tutorial area and would not have had the time to negotiate like this.

'Fuck…'

It wasn't that his skill rune will drop with a 100% chance even if you killed him.

And the worth of the healing skill was too high to bet like that

And especially in a time limited situation like this.

"Are you just gonna leave that alone?"

As Hanchul talked to Hansoo whilst grinding his teeth, Hansoo just shrugged his shoulder.

He didn't particularly intrude even if they fought or didn't fight.

Since it will all eventually return to him.

"Here are some runes. Please heal my wife"

As he saw the family man hand over the rune he gathered and asked to heal his wife who was slightly injured, Hanchul grinded his teeth.

It would usually be a very warming view but Hanchul's situation was too dire to look at it in such a way.

The others also stared at the four coldly as if it wasn't just Hanchul's thoughts that were like this.

'A shit hand. I pulled a real shit hand'

He had thought that the psychic guy was the weirdest one but it seemed that he was the best hand he had now.

A crazy bitch. A heal seller and three harmonious family members.

Hanchul's face expression turned cold.

And at that moment a voice flowed into Hanchul's head.

Hanchul answered as if this was all normal.

'I don't know… if these guys are worthy enough to take'

Hanchul ended the conversation as he thought of it only and did not send it as a message and then grinded his teeth.

Hanchul, who had finished the conversation with his friend and leader Hyunjin, started to walk as if nothing happened.

He had thought that he was criticizing Hansoo but Hanchul believed in the existence of psychic powers.

Since he had already seen somebody with such an ability like his friend, Hyunjin, and even benefitted like this.

But there was a guy watching Hanchul.

'It seems like there's already somebody who had bloomed the sovereign's trait It's rather quick'

Trait

A trait which Eres and Kwang Goonju had.

A trait which made them into a leader and the leader becoming a trait, a trait that made somebody into a .

Hansoo showed a conspicuous color as he looked at the small symbol that appeared for a moment and then disappeared on the back of Hanchul's hand.

Chapter 25 – Sky Road (4)

While Hansoo was making such thoughts and advancing forward, one person cautiously spoke as they looked at their surroundings.

"It seems like the number of snakes are decreasing?"

Everyone nodded at these words.

It was something they had felt for a while.

Thankfully their speed of movement had increased and they had made quite a distance from the part of the island that was crumbling.

'Good'

Hansoo nodded his head inwardly.

Since the lack of Rune Pattern Snakes meant he had almost reached the habitat of the Rune Eater Snake.

As soon as the snakes had disappeared they looked at each other while catching a breath.

Their entire bodies had been healed cleanly.

Since Kangmin's healing was rather effective despite the disputes.

Kangmin looked at Hansoo with a mysterious expression.

'He didn't receive any heals…'

There was no way to not get injured no matter how strong you were.

And the only reason why he had been able to survive was because he had put himself in such situations.

And Hansoo was like that too.

Injuries all over the body.

But there was a clear difference with Hansoo.

'Just how much stamina does he have'

Kangmin rolled around his tongue.

It wasn't fast enough to see with the eyes but his injuries were often gone while they were walking.

He had thought that he had mistook what he had seen at first.

And he had been dodging all the big injuries that would be of harm during a fight.

He wasn't sure because he didn't look close but he could guess somewhat.

He had made sure to not get injured on his joints and muscles and if he was going to get bit then he made it so the parts of the body that wouldn't hinder him was bit.

Even if his skin were to be all scratched off.

It would hurt much less to get bit around the thigh or buttocks but he had been dodging injuries in important areas as if every part which helped him fight was precious.

And he had been doing so by getting hit all over the body whilst dodging fatal wounds and healing himself with his high stamina.

At once glance he looked like a normal college student but he was fighting like a beast.

As if he was fighting by squeezing every bit power out of his entire body.

'…Is he like a mercenary or something?'

The skin would hurt a lot but it healed fast so it was the right choice.

But this choice would be hard for a normal person to make but that guy was not afraid of getting hurt.

No, he had even shown that if he could kill the enemy by getting hurt, then he chose to do so.

'It seems like the sales won't be that good'

Kangmin frowned slightly.

Amazing was amazing and obstruction was an obstruction.

If that guy didn't exist than the others would've been hurt more but due to him fighting so well he had to set the price of healing low.

Since if there was no demand, the prices will drop.

But at that moment, something appeared in front of Kangmin whom had been thinking of this and that

'…What is that?'

A humongous tree that couldn't even be compared to the trees until now had appeared in front of them.

And the surroundings trees had been broken and smashed to create an open area.

While everybody was cautiously looking at their surroundings in this new area that was a bit off the road, Hansoo was looking at the top of the tree.

'There it is.'

A giant snake of 15m that had coiled upon the tree.

It had become the leader of the Rune Pattern snakes by eating them and absorbing their runes.

Most mutant Rune Eater Snakes became strong like that and acted as predators.

A monster that couldn't even distinguish its own clansman and only saw them as food.

And because of this, other rune pattern snakes did not live around it.

'But that one is useless'

That one was useless.

Since due to its size, if you gave it 3 runes it will eat all of those 3.

It was only useful while it was a baby, when it did not eat much and would puke out two when you gave it three would it be useful.

But since it was only useful for three months, he just needed to release it after that.

Hansoo nodded as he thought of the rune pattern snake's egg somewhere within the tree.

'Let's go'

He had fought in the most dangerous areas for 50 years and had never encountered an enemy who he could leisurely dodge and whom would send only so-so attacks at him.

Foresee the enemy's movements?

There were much more enemies that moved faster than one could foresee.

And because of this the fighting style of giving flesh and hitting bone had been deep embedded in him.

Since as long as you kill the enemy, regeneration was possible.

But his tactic was only possible when you could receive their attacks to a degree but due to his resistances being rock bottom low, it felt like he was fighting with chains all over his body.

And he seemed strong right now but later enemies who know how to use skills and their traits properly will appear.

He had a bit of an advantage in stats and artifacts but there was a huge gap in battle powers that came from skills and traits.

Since that girl called Jimin had already grasped her fighting style a bit.

He had to take the advantage before he could earn skills and to do that a Rune Eater Snake was a necessity.

'If I take this then everything becomes easy'

The family man, Gyucheol, cautiously spoke as he saw Hansoo warm up his body.

"Do you really have to fight that thing?"

"Hmm?"

"Isn't that something you don't really need to kill?"

Hansoo nodded at those words.

The Rune Eater Snake was too high of a difficulty for people who came out of one week of the tutorial.

And that snake which ate three and spat out two was a scam to others who needed the strength, stamina, agility and perception runes.

And because of this he had diverged from the path a little bit.

Since there weren't any snakes here so as long as you were careful you wouldn't run into rune eater snakes or rune pattern snakes.

The others who had already seen this stood far away as they looked at the tree with worrying expressions.

"You don't have to fight. I'll fight it alone so go over there where it's safe. Or you can go first"

Gyucheol shook his head at those words.

"No… I'm saying let's go together"

Gyucheol almost spat out something he had been thinking for a while.

'How would we advance if you die'

Gyucheol knew.

That the reason why it was ok for him to just protect his wife at the back was because Hansoo, who was in the front, was fighting well.

He knew. That if you don't fight yourself here then you will eventually die.

But even though he knew this in his head, how could he send his wife and daughter out after seeing them bleed after getting slashed by swords.

There might be a chance that a place where his family could be safe might appear if they continue like this.

And for that he needed to live a little bit longer.

'And because of that I must go with that person'

If that guy dies then he would need to step out and fight.

Because if he doesn't then the defense line will crumble and they would all die.

But then if he died like that, who would protect his family.

He wasn't in the situation to put up with danger.

'And isn't it very greedy to try to kill that snake which you don't need to, to the point of soloing?'

Gyucheol, who couldn't spit out such words, tried his best to make a pleasant smile as he spoke.

"What would happen if you died fighting that thing. It looked dangerous at a glance, let's just continue and not waste your strength on that thing. Shouldn't we continue forward while the gap is still large."

Everyone looked at Hansoo and Gyucheol at those words.

Chapter 26 – Ticket (1)

Hansoo chuckled at those words as he shook his head.

"I'll refuse. Go ahead first"

Gyucheol couldn't hold it in as he raged.

"Aren't you being too much young friend? And this isn't just my thoughts. We need to move together as nine but what do you want us to do if you enter a dangerous place like this"

Gyucheol's face was on fire as he spat out the words.

Since he knew that it wasn't something he should be saying.

But he held it in.

The thing he had realized as he gained age and as he became a man of the family was that embarrassment was just for that moment and being loud was rather effective.

Who would protect his family if he lets Hansoo go because of his ego and then die afterwards.

His wife and his daughters could not even threaten a fish.

They will probably die as soon as he dies.

Or something even worse.

'It's better to get cursed at'

And there was still a problem if he beat the snake.

Since it can only take a long time for him to fight the snake.

Since then the destruction line that they had created a gap from would catch up them.

And if that happened they had to fight more anxiously.

'You..as long as you come with us and fight then won't be any problem'

Didn't they do good until now.

This wasn't a game, this wasn't the time to worry about killing a strong monster for items or runes but why was he going crazy just because he couldn't fight that powerful looking snake.

They were already busy trying to push ahead.

'Damn. It's not because he's young. He's just crazy'.

Hansoo clicking his tongue as he looked at that Gyucheol.

There were times like this where they opinions crossed.

And he understood as well.

If a man wasn't selfish during times of danger then when would he be selfish.

'But there's no other way'

Since their goals were different there was no other way.

Hansoo shook his head as he walked towards the snake.

"Goddamit! If you were going to act selfishly like that then why are you traveling with us in the first place!"

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders at Gyucheol's words as he spoke.

"I never traveled with you. The way we were going was the same"

"…"

"…dammit"

At that moment everybody realized that even though Hansoo had been fighting in the front, he had never traded anything with them.

Though he had taught them a few things discreetly.

Gyucheol, who couldn't hold it anymore, cursed out loud while his wife and daughter looked at Gyucheol with a pitiful expression and him took him away after looking at Hansoo with a resentful face.

They knew that they were alive because of Hansoo but they were sad because of Hansoo acting the way he wanted.

While they were leaving, somebody was watching Hansoo with a regrettable face.

The one who actually stimulated Gyucheol was Hanchul.

He was going to try recruiting him after watching for a little bit longer but he was shocked because Hansoo had said he was going to fight the snake.

It did indeed seem like something amazing will come out if that snake was killed.

But that was only important while they were alive.

They had no thoughts of fighting with that anaconda-like 15m long snake.

If Hansoo had miraculous powers to the point where he could slice it in half then they might've followed him meticulously to gain a little bit of anything.

But they had eyes too.

The snake which was sliding between the trees was quite nimble despite its size and its size broke the branches that were as big as normal tree trunks which showed his strength.

That was not something where they can gain anything out of while Hansoo was fighting it alone.

And they wanted to get away as fast as possible because of these thoughts.

Since it will be bad if they received collateral damage whilst watching Hansoo fight.

They had no thoughts of getting dragged in.

'Well. There's nothing that can be done'

If somebody couldn't keep their lives in tact then that was all they were worth.

The eight others quickly left Hansoo and took off as Hansoo bit onto a cloud snack while chucking at this view.

Then he charged at the Rune Eater Snake.

............

Kudududk

"Hoo."

Hansoo took out the cloud snack he was biting on and then grasped the rune eater's snake with both hands.

And behind him a giant rune eater snake was laid out dead with its brain pierced through.

'Now there's only five cloud snacks left'

Rune eater snake was indeed strong.

But it was much weaker than the Carnivorous Beast.

And his stats were much more different from then.

He had used colorless energy and used the cloud snack because of limited time but only one was needed

Kachak

And soon the egg cracked open as a small snake that couldn't be imagined to be a baby of that giant snake came out and crawled above Hansoo's wrist.

'Good'

There were quite a bit of Strength, Stamina, Agility and Perception runes gathered on his wrist.

These were stats that Hansoo judged to be not necessary for the moment.

Hansoo started to feed the baby rune eater snake with all the runes he had gathered up.

The rune eater snake didn't realize it's parent was dead as it greedily gulped down the runes on Hansoo's wrist.

The four types of runes on his wrist quickly disappeared as a different type of rune replaced their spots.

'First, raise magic, physical and magic resistances.

His Mana wasn't really lacking.

He had in instead raise these other three stats in order to raise his ability battle powers which were lacking.

Since soon things with abilities will pop out one by one.

[Kang Hansoo] Strength(Colorless): 0.02%

Stamina: 88.8

Agility: 84.0

Perception: 85.1

Mana: 58.4

Magic: 30

Physical resistance: 25

Magic resistance: 25.3

'Finally I've gained the eight great stats'

The most basic and the stat that impacted the battle powers the most, the eight great stats.

From now he had to keep raising these stats in balance.

Keiiik!

The rune eater snake which seemed to be content from eating its fill cried out in content as it fell asleep on his wrist

It was indeed the offspring of that giant rune eater snake no matter how you looked at it.

He wouldn't bat an eye during normal battles.

'You just stay asleep'

Hansoo, who had been looking at it cutely, started to walk fast as he saw the destruction line closing in.

.........

"Dad. What do we do…"

"Be quiet please"

While Gyucheol and his Family were left behind on a fork on a road and were struggling, somebody started to appear afar.

Gyucheol nodded after seeing this.

'I knew this would happen'

He was covered in blood but it was Hansoo.

Gyucheol, who had been looking at Hansoo, spoke out.

"Did you perhaps run while fighting?"

It didn't seem like his strength, agility or stamina changed much from before.

If the giant snake had given him runes then a his runes should have increased by a large amount.

And the snake did indeed look stronger than Hansoo so the time that he took was too fast for killing it.

Since the time it took for Hansoo to come back only took around the time it took to smoke one cigarette.

"I killed it"

'Lies'

If he wasn't going to gain anything then why did he fight?

No he did gain something.

Only injuries all over the body.

But it was to his expectations anyway.

Since he guessed that he would at least run before he died.

Hansoo asked the three as he asked.

"The other people?"

The others excluding Gyucheol and the two could not be seen.

Gyucheol grinded his teeth at those words.

"…they went that way."

'and leaving us behind'

He thought of Hancheol's words before he departed.

'That bitch… both this guy and him'

Gyucheol had to choose.

Either to fight in the front.

Or wait until Hansoo came back and then charge through the path with Hansoo in the front.

But he had no confidence to fight in the front.

'Damnit… I should've fought in the front from the beginning'

While the others were constantly fighting, he had been left behind without being able to eat any runes.

And now he could only support from the back, he was not at the level to fight in the front anymore.

And the beasts in front of them would be even stronger.

They at least had Hansoo before, if he had fought in between the others then he would've died rather quickly.

So he decided to wait for just 5 minutes.

Just in case Hansoo would run away from the fight.

'It's a relief'

If he hadn't come then he would've probably had to fight in the front while listening to their hateful words but thankfully Hansoo had come back.

While Gyucheol was thinking about this and that, Hansoo had chosen a different direction than the others.

If that path had been cleared already then the amount of runes he would be able to gain will be significantly lower.

It was better to go somewhere where there was still a lot of things to hunt.

And this path was more compatible with him.

Gyucheol only looked at Hansoo pass by him but did not move.

Hansoo looked at Gyucheol with an amused expression.

"Aren't you moving?"

And Gyucheol relied at those words.

"Didn't you say you were never part of us already. Go ahead first"

"Huh"

These words were correct.

'I can clearly see his intentions but a guy being this straightforward is a first.'

It didn't really matter if there was somebody to fight with or not.

Hansoo laughed as he started to move towards the other path quickly.

And Gyucheol and his family slowly followed Hansoo whilst leaving a gap.

'There… aren't any options left'

He was not at the level of fighting in the front anymore.

He had to push ahead by sticking to someone.

'Surely such an environment like this wouldn't continue'

As long as a similar environment like the first tutorial area came out then they can catch their breath.

Gyucheol started to gaze at Hansoo's back with a feeling of being on a tightrope.

Hoping that he wouldn't get mad and turn his blades at them.

And hoping that he would clear the road well in the front.

.........

Udududk

"Hooo"

Hansoo made a dull expression as he killed the last Kerudal.

This place's difficulty was where nine people had to fight.

It was hard because he had to fight alone.

Since he couldn't use cloud snacks in places like this

'But it's still very good'

[Kang Hansoo] Strength(Colorless): 0.03%

Stamina: 88.8

Agility: 84.0

Perception: 85.1

Mana: 58.4

Magic: 35

Physical resistance: 32

Magic resistance: 32.7

He had been monopolizing the runes because he was fighting alone.

And the fights had been getting easier because his resistances were increasing due to his monopolization.

And Gyucheol was looking at Hansoo with a fed up expression from the back.

'…he's getting stronger and stronger'

It didn't seem like his movements were getting faster or his strength was increasing.

But he was gaining a lot less injuries than before.

And because of that he was fighting faster and more aggressively.

He just took an attack that he would usually dodge and then sliced off their necks like that.

And because of this his speed was slower than when he fought together with the other group but he had long recovered the speed back.

'This kinda bugs me…'

He was traveling safely and comfortably.

He just had to pick up a few bloody monsters that Hansoo had leaked.

And Gyucheol was sufficient enough for these.

But the fact that Hansoo has been getting more and more leisurely had been bugging him.

The perfect situation in his head was that Hansoo was so busy fighting in the front and becoming a mess that he couldn't spare any effort to care about Gyucheol himself.

But if this happened he had no solution to when Hansoo became enraged..

'Do I have to run away in the next fork on the road…'

But it was hard for him to clear the road alone.

But the thing that had appeared in front of Gyucheol wasn't a fork on the road.

'…Tunnel?'

A giant tunnel located near the bottom of the mountain.

And in front of it a very familiar existence was located there.

"Are you not on good terms? You traveled whilst leaving some distance between you two. Well whatever, congratulations on reaching the goal."

And then the fairy pointed towards the inner parts of the tunnel.

There was a dormant volcano's crater that could be seen along with few tens of people who had already reached this place next to many weird-looking boats.

Gyucheol cried out in joy after seeing this.

"Uwahaha! Arrived! We've Arrived!"

"Daddy! Thank you for your hard work!"

As if Hansoo and Gyucheol were the last ones, as soon as they entered the tunnel closed with a thunk sound and the fairy which was at the entrance flew in.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to the goal line. Heehee. Let's see… there's 75 alive right now? It's good that not many died. You guys worked hard."

"…"

Whilst everyone was grinding their teeth, the fairy smiled as it spoke again.

"Since there's 75 people, 75 tickets should be prepared right?"

And then a ticket with strange patterns started to appear on the hands of the people.

While the people were mumbling about the ticket, the fairy continued to talk.

"If you get on that then you can get on the boat that leads you to the island above. You've done well. I will now tell you how to use the ticket."

"…?"

Wasn't it just that they had to get on the boat after handing it over.

"Basically the boats you guys will get on is for three people"

"…"

"And of course three tickets must be gathered in order for it to work. Isn't it so peaceful? Since its three tickets per three people, there's no need to fight"

Everyone sighed in relief at these words.

Since that meant that all 75 people could go up.

But Hansoo shook his head.

There was no way that this would be it.

And as he expected, the fairy continued to talk.

"But it will be unfair if one person or two people pay three tickets and get treated like three people right? So we prepared something special"

'Goddamit, of course it won't just let us go that easily…'

The fairy made an amused expression as it looked at the people and spoke.

"Firstly, if you hand in three tickets then you can go to any island you want. By the way, if you think that all the islands above are the same then that's a huge misconception. Check the islands map in your pockets."

The fairy laughed and spoke as it saw a few people's eyes shining.

"If you hand in three tickets with two people then you can go together but you cannot decide where it goes. The boat will move randomly"

At the fairy's words, the eyes of the people who were comrades or partners changed.

If they wanted to act together then they had to gather an extra ticket.

"Lastly if you hand in three tickets as three people then you will get off separately. You can go up but you cannot be together. A situation like a family would be very very sad right? I hope if you are in a family of three that you can gather nine tickets to go to the island you want."

"This bitch…"

Gyucheol spat out curses without control.

Nine tickets for three people?

What was this nonsense?

It was hard to even protect one at this moment.

He could see Hancheol and others watching with a fierce look from afar.

And the fairy spoke in amusements without caring for such matters.

"There should be about… 30 minutes left until the island collapses completely? Heehee. I guess only 25 boats are needed. I will separate the boats all around the crater. It won't be fun if you just protect the area of the boat right? Ticket. You just need to gather three tickets with whichever method and then depart! Good luck!"

The fairy disappeared after those words.

And everybody's faces started to stiffen.

It was better to go together and even better if you could go where you wanted.

So it was better the more tickets you had.

If there were 6 in a party then 18 was optimal, 9 was ok and six was a worst case scenario.

The people who had laid their decisions looked around for weak people.

And Hancheol and the others who had been separated earlier looked at Gyucheol's family with a smile.

The other didn't know but they did.

A way to gain three free tickets.

"Goddamnit…"

Gyucheol cursed out.

The boat was next to them.

If they wanted to live then the three of them had to get on the boat at this instant.

But if they get on the boat like that then they would be separated.

Which meant his wife and daughter will die or face an even worse situation.

'Damn..what do I do?'

The fact that they had come this far proved that they were strong.

So there was nobody who could get their tickets stolen by him.

And then Hansoo came into Gyucheol's eyes.

"Hansoo! Please give me your ticket!"

"Hmm?"

As Hansoo looked at Gyucheol, Gyucheol hurriedly smiled.

"If we have your ticket then my wife and I can go together! And then please take my daughter. If you do so then our whole family can live!"

Gyucheol shouted in despair.

Since then he could take his wife with him and protect her a bit more.

And their daughter will be protected by Hansoo so she will be able to live a bit longer despite being separated.

If there are four people with six tickets then they can live a bit longer.

"Please… You can save lives this way! You are strong so isn't a piece of cake to gather two more tickets? You're so strong! Please save our family!"

'Wow…he's not a joke'

Hansoo swirled his tongue at Gyucheol's words.

He had thought that he was very blunt but this was beyond imagination.

'He probably isn't a fool that would grant that right?'

But Hanchul was still worried so he started to run faster.

Since if he did grant that then those tickets would be gone.

"Hurry! Please!"

Gyucheol, who saw Hanchul and the others charge at them,

He had pleaded something that wouldn't even come out because of his ego.

And Hansoo's eyes calmed down in a cold manner as he looked at Gyucheol.

Chapter 27 – Ticket (2)

Hansoo shook his head.

You need to handle your own problems.

This guy's suggestion was that two other people had to die.

Since the ticket needed for four people was six.

He was asking Hansoo to kill two for him because he didn't have the ability to do so himself.

It wasn't that he didn't but rather these things were something he had to do himself.

They were precious family to Gyucheol but in Hansoo's eyes, the other two were of equal value as them.

Gyucheol grinded his teeth after seeing Hansoo shake his head

But he realized quickly that it wasn't the time to do so.

Gyucheol, who had seen Hanchul charging at him, clenched down his teeth as he striked down on the neck of his daughter.

Smack

The daughter fell unconscious without even being able to scream.

Gyucheol, after lifting his daughter up, took her ticket as well as his dazed wife's ticket and got on the boat.

It didn't even take a second because the boat was next to them.

As Gyucheol grasped the three tickets the boat floated up in the air whilst making strange sound.

And Gyucheol's wife watched this scene in a daze as she mumbled.

"…honey?"

"I am sorry. But I should at least protect our daughter"

If they go as three then they would all die.

Since his wife and daughter would die if they get separated.

But if he went instead then he could at least protect his daughter to some degree.

"You! Are you crazy!?"

The wife, who was in shock, regained her senses and then spat out in rage.

But that at moment something aggressively landed on the top of the boat.

Booom!

"Hey uncle. Stop"

"…Damnit"

Gyucheol made a expression of despair as he looked at Hanchul who was holding a blade onto his daughter's neck whom he was holding.

The boat immediately stopped working as somebody who wasn't part of the boat as well as his ticket got on the boat.

And then everyone realized.

Then you couldn't leave this damned place with just some good luck.

Only people who can protect their boats can leave this place safely.

Hansoo mumbled inwardly.

'It isn't the time to sit around and idle'

He wanted to to stick around and then take some runes after killing a few people but if he dragged his time like that and then got caught by his ankles by others to drag him down then it would be over just like that.

He had to leave as soon as he collected the tickets.

"You should get off with your daughter"

Hanchul, who had taken the tickets in Gyucheol's hands, kicked off Gyucheol and his daughter onto the ground.

He didn't like it but it was a bit too much to kill the dad and his daughter together.

And if he tried to kill them then they would charge at him in a crazy manner which would drag him down.

"You beast! How could you do this!"

As Gyucheol cried out in despair whilst holding his daughter, Hanchul moved his blade closer as he smirked.

"So if you had fought in the front like others then you wouldn't be in such a situation. Uncle knows that you were around the same level as me when you came here right?"

"…"

Gyucheol grinded his teeth at those words but could not say anything.

Since these were all truths.

If he had fought in the front non-stop and ate runes then he probably wouldn't have lost the boat this easily now.

Gyucheol finally realized why Hansoo didn't care or interfere no matter how much they fought in front of him.

'…you were the most ruthless one'

He didn't whip others nor encourage others.

He just left them alone.

So they could choose and deal with the problems themselves.

And the fact that he had hidden in the fact with an excuse of defending his family had came back to him in conclusion.

Hanchul, who had been smirking at the dazed and despair filled Gyucheol next to his crying wife, turned his head and then spoke to Hansoo whilst looking at him.

"Hansoo. Let's go together"

"Hmm?"

"I wish for you to be with us. I can gather the tickets for you if you need them"

He hadn't said anything but Hanchul felt as if steam were rising off from his ears.

A wife and daughter who did not do anything.

And Gyuchul who had stayed in the back to defend such people.

A guy who had the strength to fight but only relied on his heals and took runes.

An extremely strong but crazy woman.

And two who were fighting properly but did not catch the eyes.

But because the others in the front were getting trampled by the eyes, the last two was actually rather dependable.

And at the same time, he thought of a game he used to enjoy in the past

A game where you had to make a team with five people.

In order to beat the enemy, they had to do whatever the team did no matter how much you hated it.

It was the same here.

Even if there were a lot of of the nine who were performing useless actions, they had to endure and follow

No, this was actually harder than the game

Since a game would be over just like that if you gave up but here you would just die.

An extremely serious situation.

He had to take useful people but there were nobody who caught his eyes.

No, it actually made his insides twist and turn at the thoughts of these people becoming a person who would be like a family to him after sharing the Symbol.

And Hansoo was naturally an existence that would catch his eyes in such a situation.

He wasn't a superhero or something like that.

'Well. We had originally started at the same place so there's no way he could be like that'

He wasn't an existence like a Deus Ex Machina which could solve the current situation by slashing apart the fairy and then returning them back to their original world.

Since the current Hansoo was also receiving injuries.

But he was very tough.

He was at least much stronger than them and the attitude of how he fought showed that he could trust and leave things to Hansoo.

He felt like a veteran that had lived through decades of battles.

'And if his character's like that then it's not that bad'

He followed the thing he needed to and didn't fall back, he also didn't take more than he earned.

This was why such decisions were made.

'We need people like him'

Someone like him was the type of people he needed to him and Hyunjin.

That was the only way to go through this world in this damnable world.

"Come with us. I believed that you have psychic powers since I've also seen it before"

And then Hanchul showed the back of his hand.

Ooong

A small shining symbol.

A symbol that couldn't be seen until now was shining on the back of Hanchul's hand.

As Hansoo showed a conspicuous color, Hanchul continued talking after believing that he had caught his interest.

"This is a psychic power that was manifested by my friend"

And then Hanchul told Hansoo the fact that he had found out, which was rather lacking informatively because the time they had it for wasn't that long, that Hansoo already knew.

"If I gain the permission of my friend then I can give you this Symbol to you too. And my friend would definitely agree to you"

The talk had already been completed already

If this guy was that trustable then let's give him the symbol first.

It didn't matter what his plans that he had in his mind were.

Since if they receive the symbol, they would become a trustable companion.

"Be with us. We are different from those mediocre people over there. And once you get this we can trust each other completely."

'I know well'

He knew too well.

How could he not.

Hansoo, who had thought of Eres and his other friends, just shook his head.

He could not go beneath a Lord this time.

"I'll refuse"

"Hmm?"

Hanchul spoke out in surprise as if he didn't expect the refusal.

'Why would he refuse this?'

It wasn't that they were tying him down with a contract.

The Symbol was connecting them with credit and connection.

And it was more trustable than a contract because of this and it also shone during times of crisis.

It wasn't a relationship made of understanding, which was like a sandcastle, which would collapse at a slight touch.

It was a psychic power that made a Lord.

He had looked at Hansoo as if his explanation wasn't enough but that was not it.

It wasn't that he was pondering but rather a direct refusal.

'Does he have a reason?'

Hanchul wanted to try a bit more but realized that this wasn't the time to be doing so.

Since others were approaching him after realizing that he had three tickets.

He definitely needed three tickets.

Since he agreed to meet in the above with Hyunjin.

"Damn. Then there's nothing I can do"

The boat was not rising as if it didn't work if there was more than three tickets.

Hanchul threw a ticket at Hansoo and then spoke as the boat rised up.

"You will probably survive and rise up. Let's see each other again if our destiny meets"

And then Hanchul disappeared quickly with the boat.

"Damn! This is mine!"

"No! I'm the one who's going to take this!"

As Hansoo left the ticket on the ground, everybody was making a huge commotion as they charged at the ticket.

But even within that chaos, Hansoo just continued to stand firmly.

He could interfere and then distribute three tickets at a time.

But if he did that then somebody who had the ability to collect three will lose their lives.

And it wouldn't mean much to save them to raise them up.

Since weaklings who can't even protect their own ticket will just die above.

Since it got harder and harder as things went on.

'In the end, you must take care of yourself'

The fight for the ticket continued after Hanchul had left.

The boats departed one by one.

The strongest people leisurely collected tickets and then rode on the boat alone to go where they wanted.

The people who weren't at that level looked around and then made an alliance as they got on the boat in duos.

And the weakest ones decided that going as a group of three was better grouped up and then rose in the boats as threes.

Soon there were only two boats left.

And somebody approached Hansoo while he was looking at the boats.

"Why did you refuse Hanchul's offer earlier?"

When Hansoo turned around he saw Jimin.

Jimin was rather laid back as if she had already collected three tickets.

Hansoo opened his mouth after staring at Jimin for a while.

"I have my own reasons. For what reason did you come to me?"

Jimin laughed as she spoke.

"I wanted to give you an offer as well. Let's go together"

And then Jimin showed him the black symbol on her hand.

A clear evidence that she was connected to a Lord.

But Hansoo shook his head.

A Deny.

'Well. It's as I expected'

Jimin shrugged her shoulders.

She knew that her offer would be refused he he had already refused Hanchul's offer.

Hansoo was a necessity to her sister but if not then there was nothing she could do.

'But why is he still around here'

Hansoo was just quietly standing in the corner without stealing tickets from others.

'Is he doing this because he feels bad stealing tickets from the others?'

Then there wasn't a failure like this guy.

'I knew as soon as you brought that Gyucheol or whatever guy behind you'

Jimin tutted her tongue.

And if it was really like that then Hansoo was not needed to them.

They didn't need people who weren't determined.

'Well. He wouldn't die at least'

As long as he protected his ticket then the last boat will remain.

So there will not be a case that the boat will leave as long as he held his ticket in his hand.

He would probably go up after gathering the remaining tickets right before the island fell completely.

'Well I'm not interested anymore'

Jimin, who had lost interest in Hansoo, got on a boat and then left the island.

And now there was one boat, three tickets and tens of people left.

The people who had been running away and throwing their tickets because they were afraid of the people on the boats.

In one aspect it was a clear choice.

Since the people who had left were the people who wouldn't only take their tickets but also take their runes.

As the situation got dire, the people who had charged at them died just like that.

The people who had been zealously fighting and gathering runes were not an opponent for people who did not.

But it was right before the island would collapse.

It wasn't the time to hide around anymore.

They needed three tickets to activate the boat and the tickets in their hands would be meaningless without the ticket in Hansoo's hands.

And soon the people who had been hiding the tickets started to run crazily at Hansoo.

That guy was actually much much stronger than them.

Since the people who knew he had a ticket had all been crushed after trying to take him on.

Wasn't the fact that he stayed meant that he would take the last two with him.

Which meant the two people Hansoo chose would go with him.

But the others wouldn't just stay to watch this scene.

The people started to charge at the people running towards Hansoo.

"Damnit! This is mine!"

"You crazy bastard! There's no such thing as yours and mine!"

"Dammit! Please take this and take me too! You have to survive too!"

And Gyucheol was naturally part of this

"Hansoo! Please for the sake of the friendship we had so far! Please! At least take my daughter!"

Hansoo made a sad expression as he looked at them.

Their expectations were wrong.

He hadn't stayed to take two more people.

'…I am sorry.'

These guys weren't cards that were abandoned.

These were people that he had come back to save.

But he could not save everyone.

He could at most only save a few tens more no matter how he struggled within the tutorial area where the influence of the fairy was too strong.

There were too many things he needed to do and he could clearly see how many people would die if he failed to do so.

If he were to be pushed around because of his emotions here then billions of people will die.

He needed three tickets.

Since he needed to go to the

The only reason why he had stayed was because he had something he still needed to do.

'I will act according to my plans'

He needed to focus on his main mission.

Eres had told him that he was going back to save humanity but that was just the result.

He hadn't come back to save every single human.

He had come back to win.

Becoming strong in the tutorial was just a part of this plans as well as a part of his methods, without this method then he would fail to reach his goals and failing to reach the preliminaries meant failing to see the goal.

If humanity lost again because he took a step back then he had to just kill himself by smashing his head on a boulder.

"I'm Sorry"

"…what?"

The people spoke in confusion from Hansoo's abrupt speech.

Hansoo's expression, which had sadness, started to turn cold.

The reason why he hadn't killed or stolen so far was to stop the stories from spreading.

And he couldn't kill everyone who had seen this just to shut their mouthes.

Eres disagreed until the end.

But Keldian kept pushing him back until the end

And he added something else.

<…>

These were people who would fall along with the island.

The people here aren't the people who he would choose from.

These were people who had already been weeded out in this damnable round of game.

And this is where Keldian's suggestion came out.

They had finally reached a consensus after arguing for a while.

He would not purposely kill them.

He didn't feel like it and if he did do that then the people with the Lord's marks would know that he had done it.

And that would be troublesome.

But he was going to devour everybody who had been left behind until the end before he left.

Since these guys were going to fall with the island anyway.

And down below was an ordinary looking but harsh ocean.

If they fall then they would die in extreme pain.

Slowly, bit by bit.

The fairies watched this in extreme amusement.

'I'll at least send you off comfortably'

Kiiiiik!

Hansoo grasped the needle in his hand so hard to the point it crumpled.

The rune eater snake that was around his wrist shouted in glee as if it expected predation.

Then Hansoo charged towards the people making a commotion with a cold look on his face.

Chapter 28 – Central Island (1)

Hansoo looked at the Central Island that he could see afar from the boat.

An island that was huge even in comparison to other islands.

"You're always out of the expectation. Heehee. Don't worry. We don't spread things like this around"

The fairy looked at the needle on Hansoo's hand which was still dripping of blood as Hansoo looked at the Fairy expressionlessly.

'No regrets'

Killing humans wasn't comfortable even if they were going to die anyway and he was just sending them off in a more comfortable way after judging that leaving them alive would be more painful for them.

But he had no thoughts of hesitating if it was necessary and didn't interfere with his plans.

Since he hadn't come to play hero.

The fairy might have gotten awkward as Hansoo stared at it expressionlessly as it shrugged it's shoulders and started to explain.

"Welcome to the Central Island. You are the last person. We will start now"

And at that moment, everybody who was on the landing area teleported into one place.

"This is…"

Everybody looked around.

A giant castle.

Thousands of people were looking around after being teleported high above the walls.

And soon the fairy which had appeared above their heads started to explain the situation.

"Hello, 1912 participants in the Central Island. I guess I need to explain three things first basically. There are three things of utmost importance on this island. Castle. Demon Lord's Castle and Underground Dungeon."

Everyone made a bitter expression at those words

There was only the underground dungeon marked on the island maps.

The underground dungeon of the central island was filled with beasts with good rewards and that they could get strong and armed quickly.

And that was why everyone had used three tickets in order to come to the central island.

The castle they were standing on was one thing, but what was the demon castle.

The fairy laughed as it continued to speak.

"My explanation was a bit lacking but these aren't lies. Can you see the castle afar?"

At those words everybody above the castle looked at something on the edge of the island.

It was an island but it was so big that they had to focus really hard with their eyes in order to see and figure out that it was a castle.

"That is the Demon Lord's Castle which is your final destination. Well you would all die if a real Demon lord were to come out so we specially prepared a weaker version of the demon lord for you instead.

'A Demon Lord…'

Hansoo chuckled.

He thought of the thing that would be causing a massacre against the other races on the 7th level of the Abyss.

If that thing did really come here then everyone would've been killed off just from a simple breath.

The people here, including Hansoo, were not of the level to kill it even if it was a weaker version.

"The Demon army is largely separated into the demons and undeads. The demons are the ones that give bountiful rewards that you think of. But the undead do not give anything. No item, no rune no anything.

The fairy rested for a moment and then continued to explain.

"And the castle is where you guys are at. There is 1 month. If you can withstand the attack of the Demon Lord and protect the crystal in the center of the castle you will win. You can also win by just taking over the Demon Lord's Castle."

Everyone made a bitter face at these words.

Since they could see the swarming armies on the way to the Demon Lord's Castle at a glance.

When would they have the time to break through them.

It was obvious that defense was easier than offense.

"And finally, I should explain the underground dungeon. You can see multiple entrances on the insides of the castle right?"

Everyone nodded as they looked towards the inner parts of the castle.

There were multitudes of suspicious looking dungeon entrances located in numerous places.

There were entrances on the castle walls and even entrances in the drill hall.

"These are the same as the underground dungeons that you know of. If you hunt in there then the runes will drop like flies and artifacts will drop as well as you knew"

And then the fairy talked about colorless runes and artifacts.

And then everybody's expression changed.

A lot had happened but it had only been 10 days since they came here.

They had become stronger physically but they only at a knife at most as a weapon.

But a chance to earn higher runes and artifacts.

The fairy persuades them to go into the dungeons asap in order to become stronger.

'That damnable thing'

Hansoo sighed.

Since he knew what would happen if things went on like this

"Now. You will need a tutorial right? Since it's only the first day there'll only be about three attacks. There also won't be any demons. Start!"

And soon a large amount of skeletons started rising up at a scary rate outside the castle with clacking sounds.

"Damnit… Isn't that a weak mob that we fought around level 1?"

A person mumbled atop the castle walls.

The skeletons with blue fire burning in their eye sockets or the ghouls who were screaming out terrifying roars were not weak mobs in anybody's eyes.

No, they were actually armed better than themselves who only had a sword at most.

Since they were even wearing armors.

And soon the undead who had formed a battle line started to charge towards the castle door and the castle walls.

"Guard it!!"

And soon the adventures and the undead started to clash with a fearsome energy.

............…

"…We need to make roles."

One of the Lords spoke with a fatigued expression.

There were a few Lords between adventurers.

The Lords had armed their forces and came into the Central island by getting three tickets in order to recruit stronger people.

There were 12 clans and Lords gathered in the Central Island.

They weren't even half of the two thousand people here but it was enough to speak out with power.

Since the other adventures didn't even have anything driving them.

But there were expressions of fatigue on the faces of 12 Lords after the defense had ended.

'Damn…It's really gruesome'

The owner of the symbol on Jimin, Yerin, grinded her teeth.

The attack continued for an hour, then they were given a three hour break only to continue fighting for another hour.

This had repeated three times.

When they first fought, about 30 didn't fight so about 1900 people fought above the castle walls.

1500 fought during the second time above the castle walls.

There were only 700 people left above the castle walls during the final fight.

And thanks to that the castle was almost invaded by a mere tutorial attack.

'Those damnable bastards…'

It wasn't that they had died or got injured.

At first only 30 people had escaped.

The 30 people who had discreetly went below came back completely different after fighting two to three hours.

They had gained a large amount of runes and artifacts in that short moment.

The fairy did not lie to them.

Hunting in the underground provided a way for them to improve very fast.

The problem was after that.

After seeing the 30 people get strong, people who were defending the castle walls had gotten jealous.

The undead who were charging at them didn't drop any runes nor artifacts.

So they realized after one defending wave.

That they couldn't get strong defending the castle walls.

And at that moment around 400 people left.

They couldn't even control them.

Since the entrance to the underground dungeon was everywhere, they just simply escaped during the chaos of the battle.

But it was fine to this point.

Since the conscious that the undead's attack was threatening and that they needed to protect the castle was still alive.

The problem was the third wave.

The thirty who had entered the dungeon while the others had become a mess whilst defending had come out with a complete makeover.

They had fought relatively safely and collected a large amount of runes and artifacts. And the might of these artifacts were indeed very strong.

The people who were below the Lord received the symbols because they naturally had good teamwork and good potential.

They were a level above the others in terms of skill.

But this gap was closed within a few hours.

And the 400 people who had entered whilst ignoring the second wave had also come out stronger.

And this had made people anxious.

They couldn't become strong if they didn't enter the dungeon.

So the people who had become anxious all left during the final wave and then the people left above with good consciences were just barely able to defend the wave.

The first day. Despite it being the tutorial.

They couldn't even imagine how they would defend starting tomorrow.

'Damn..Now it's hard to control them'

The people who had entered first got well along with each other so they got together to create a laughable group called .

If their name was at least cool then it might've been less infuriating but it made them even madder.

And people who had escaped the defense line had been gathering under that group.

They had solved their guiltiness of betraying their comrades and going to the dungeon for their own benefit by grouping together.

They would be treated as traitors around the defenders but there was nothing to be embarrassed about when they grouped with others who had done the same thing.

And thanks to this the Semi-Basement Union had become as strong as the twelve clans combined.

And the root of the problem was that the twelve Lords thought they had to defend the castle and had not entered the dungeon.

They had to hunt in turns even if they had to defend a little harder.

They had focused on defending because they didn't think that the gap would be closed in a day like this but the effect of hunting in the underground dungeon was beyond their imagination.

And they had even created justification.

And this justification had been excusing away the guilt that the Semi-Basement Union and the others had been feeling.

'Motherfuckers'

Yerin's beautiful face crumpled.

The justification was good.

And she approved of it.

They couldn't just defend in order to defend this castle.

They had to rotate between defending and attacking.

If they improve too much than they would invaded due to the weak defense and if they defend too much than they would get overwhelmed by the forces getting stronger and stronger.

But when would they actually come out?

The people were now setting camps in front of the dungeons and were going back and forth.

And they were acting like this while their powers were around the same level.

If their strength increased than they could see what would happen very clearly,

'Damn… How do we solve this.'

While the Lords were racking their brains like this a commotion was going on below.

"This bitch! It's a hero of justice really!"

'What?'

They had poked their heads outside the windows with confused looks.

............…

"Bitch. Who are you to be ordering us? We are going to defend the line above tomorrow?"

Seonghoon, one of the original members of the group, shouted aggressively.

A change starting from tomorrow.

What was this nonsense?

Hansoo nodded at those words.

"Yeah. Since we played our fill today, we need to start earning for our own food starting tomorrow. The people who had been defending shall go into the dungeons tomorrow"

"…You damnable fellow"

Seunghoon grinded his teeth.

He was one of the 30 people who had first entered the dungeon.

Why was he acting kind after he had started the whole thing.

And then Koonjin, who had been standing in the back, spoke as he walked out.

"Calm down. We aren't saying that we won't go out. If we hunt for two more days then we can defend it properly after getting stronger. We can trade then. Let's not fight between ourselves"

Hansoo smirked at those words.

By then the Lord clans would have become a huge mess.

'That's why it's difficult'

Then there was no reason to splitting it perfectly like this.

"Dismissed. Starting tomorrow, everyone will go up to fight"

Gukjin crumped his expression at those words.

'This guy had some guts…'

The reason why Gukjin had stopped the fight was because he felt that Hansoo was still very useful.

Since he had been advancing in the dungeon with that weird psychic powers.

They couldn't have become that strong by themselves.

But the situation was now different.

"You were definitely stronger before but… if you come out like this then things might become difficult"

Gukjin looked at Hansoo coldly.

They all had one or two colorless runes originally.

And from today's hunt they had all accomplished in getting over 2 new colorless runes.

And a few people succeeded in making colorless runes for strength, stamina, agility and perception.

And because of this they knew.

Their colorless perception runes told them clearly.

That that guy only had strength colorless runes.

Hansoo chuckled as he touched his ear.

[Kang Hansoo] Strength(Colorless): 0.03%

Stamina: 88.8

Agility: 84.0

Perception: 85.1

Mana: 88.4

Magic: 84.5

Physical Resistance: 85

Magic Resistance: 85.3

'Of course I can't win like this'

There was a huge different between one and four colorless runes.

And there were even differences in numbers too.

Hansoo looked around at the thirty people around him.

He didn't like to interfere but they had to at least work their worth.

If the people here who only cared about self gain went crazy then the castle will get destroyed.

"You won't listen if I just talk right?"

"…this bitch."

Hansoo smirked as he put a cloud snack in his mouth.

'There's a lot to do in order to destroy the Demon Lord's Castle in one month, I need to do things properly in the beginning'

They needed to work non stop for the whole month.

And even then it was just a possibility.

The difficulty of the Demon Lord's Castle was that high and because of this it was necessary to clear it.

Since that's the only way to challenge the final dungeon.

This was something that even Kwang Goonju couldn't clear, he just went up after defending fervently.

There was only one person whom he knew that had cleared it.

'Eres. Well I won't be able to clear like you but…'

As long as you reach the destination, that's all that mattered.

Hansoo, who had inhaled the smoke, looked around as he laughed coldly.