Chapter 12. Promotion (Part 1)

Editor: Cherish

There were many status window messages that Kang Yu was looking at with interest.

'Special Ability of the second rank…' Kang Yu opened the main status window to see if a new ability had appeared.

[Rank 2 Special Ability: Overwhelming Hunger. (Class: C)]

Result: Obtaining more Magi when using Devourer's Power.

'It's…' Kang Yu's eyes shone.

And it wasn't because he got a high class Power. High or low rank, it didn't matter to him.

What was important was that the ability he just gained will help him accumulate Magi several times faster.

'This is great.' Kang Yu, happy with his new ability, smiled joyfully.

He'd acquired his first ability, the Power of the Devourer, when he went to Hell. And he obtained his second ability just now. It felt very different now.

Each time he increases his level from now on, thanks to the new ability, he would be able to improve different abilities.

'I have to become stronger as soon as possible.' Kang Yu, without noticing it, continued to smile as his interest in the situation grew.

— Well, I should check the effectiveness of the new power, — Kang Yu said with a childlike voice and put his hand over the hobgoblin's body.

The black smoke immediately released and wrapped up the body.

'The mist is thicker.'

Was this one of the effects of the new ability?

And the mist, meanwhile, became thicker and thicker until the whole body was covered in a veil.

As expected, the hobgoblin boss contained several times more Magi than the other goblins.

As Kang Yu drew out almost all the energy, a blue window came up before his eyes.

[Activating ability: overwhelming sense of hunger]

[More Magi will be devoured]

— Ha. — With the message that came up, the number of Magi drawn out of the hobgoblin increased.

It increased by about ten or twenty percent more.

Even if it was a small number, if you think of this Magi as a free bonus that might not have been there, 10~20% didn't seem to be such a small number.

'The more Magi a monster has, the more extra power I can get,' Kang Yu concluded.

He'd have to catch higher-level monsters if collection increased not by an absolute value, but by a percentage.

Another message came up.

[Magi increased by 3 units]

The amount of Magi he received from just one hobgoblin was greater than the amount of Magi he'd received from a few dozen goblins.

Of course, this time a special power was also involved, but even in this case, there was a difference with ordinary monsters.

'I should just hunt high-class monsters.' If the monsters were weaker, he'd need to defeat a pile of them to get a lot of Magi, but he could earn it more efficiently by finishing off larger monsters.

'I've heard that the more the ability grows, the harder it is to raise it.' The same could be said for the Player level.

Although he had quickly jumped from rank 1 to 2, it would take more time to raise his level from 10 to 11.

The fact that Kang Yu had been able to raise his Magi by 3 units from fighting the hobgoblin was promising.

Kang Yu looked at the 19 units of Magi he'd obtained after only hunting for one day, and smiled.

'Should I check it once?' Compared to before attacking the village, he had five units more of Magi. 'I wonder how much Magi I will feel now?'

Kang Yu lightly closed his eyes and started 'going through' the Magi inside him.

— Huh? — His lips curled into a frown.

There were 14 units before, and now 19, so his Magi should be 1.3 times stronger.

At best, the amount could have doubled with the additional units.

However…

'It's three times as strong…' The strength of the Magi rushing through his body surpassed Kang Yu's expectations.

His Magi only increased by 5 units, so what was the reason behind this mysterious strength?

Kang Yu knew better than to rejoice thoughtlessly at a sudden increase in strength.

Power appearing out of nowhere was the same as a bomb ready to explode at any moment. While it was good to be optimistic about it, it could be dangerous in this situation.

Kang Yu returned to his seat, sat down, and focused on thinking.

It wasn't until a couple of minutes later that he realized the reason for the sudden jump in power.

'The force that sealed Man Ma Jung is weakening.' The unknown force that sealed Man Ma Jung was becoming weaker, causing a small amount of his Magi to spill out. Of course, this amount was hardly enough reason to smile, but compared to the moment he first returned to Earth, this seeping Magi was quite a lot.

'I wonder if this is related to the level promotion.' After all, Kang Yu had already reached level 10.

He'd attained second rank after finishing the hobgoblin, crossing the level 10 bar.

Nothing else had happened, so that was the most likely reason.

'I wonder, with every promotion, will the force that seals Man Ma Jung grow weaker?' Kang Yu's eyes were sparkling with new colors.

If that was the case, all he'd have to do was get to a certain level and his power would return in its entirety.

— Hmm… — To confirm the theory, he would need to get to level 20 and obtain rank 3.

'I need to get to a high-level gate.' It would be difficult to continue raising his level by only fighting goblins.

Kang Yu picked up the mana stone that was lying on the ground and stuffed it in his bag before heading towards the exit.

To go to a high-level gate, you need to upgrade your Player class. And to upgrade Player class, you have to sell mana stones in large quantities.

'I killed the boss so my class will definitely upgrade.' Kang Yu glanced at the Level C mana stone from the hobgoblin. Compared to the other level E stones, it had a murkier shade.

He was able to handle more than a dozen goblins and a hobgoblin alone, so it was impossible for his class not to rise.

Kang Yu, with a bag full of mana stones, stepped out of the Gate.

Compared to before entering the Gate, Kang Yu now felt lighter in his body, likely due the increased number of Magi.

'With so much Magi, I should be able to use more of my powers.' Realizing this, his mood improved.

Using his Acceleration Power, he quickly arrived at where the mana stones were exchanged.

— Swap all of this for money, please. And give me a salesman's certificate.

The man looked frightened at how many stones Kang Yu had just thrown out.

— You have 61 Level E Mana stones and one Level C Mana stone.

— How much do I get for each piece?

— With tax deductions, a Level E mana stone costs 36,000 won and a Level C mana stone costs 2,570,000 won.

(P.O.: 1000₩=0.83 USD)

— Wow.

It turns out he'd made almost 5,000,000 won today.

If he went to a higher level gate, he could earn even more.

This was probably one of the reasons why the Players are getting a lot of attention.

— Player ID, please.

— Here you go.

— Um. — The face of the man who looked at the ID turned into a frown. — Present the IDs of the men you hunted with at the parade.

He was convinced that a level E player couldn't get that many stones all alone.

— They weren't any.

— What?

— I was hunting alone.

— You're telling me you collected all this on your own?

Looking at the baffled face of an employee, Kang Yu nodded quietly.

The employee couldn't believe it, gawking at the mountain of stones on his desk and at Kang Yu's.

For an E-level player to collect that many Mana stones alone? That was unthinkable.

'He also caught a boss.' The level C stone on his table signified that the guy killed the main monster.

'Somebody must have helped him after all.' There were times when rich Players skipped training and had a personal assistant assigned to help them.

'But it doesn't look like that.' Kang Yu was dressed too poorly and didn't have any special equipment nor weapons.

Usually, when Players received help, they possessed high-level items.

'Maybe he's hiding his noble origins?' It wasn't like a player with such a low level could hunt at a level E gate alone.

'Whatever, I'll stay out of it.' He was an educated and polite employee, after all.

— Okay. Would you like to get cash or withdraw it to your bank account? You can receive it in cash as long as it's less than 1 billion won.

— Cash, please. — Kang Yu felt that the employee didn't believe what he said about hunting alone, but he didn't mind.

After a while, the employee returned to Kang Yu with a sum of 4,766,000 won in cash.

Kang Yu left upon receiving the money.

'The first thing I need to do is buy a phone.' It would be necessary to get back to a normal life.

Kang Yu went to a branch that he recognized and bought a phone. He used it immediately to call Han Sol, who he'd parted with at the Player Support Centre.

— Hello?

— Han Sol? This is Kang Yu.

— Ah, you found your phone.

— Yes, I did.

— From now on, be more careful with it. Where are you now?

— It's not far from where the mana stones are exchanged.

— Are you going straight home?

— I have to stop by somewhere, but it would be nice to go there together, what do you think?

— With me? — Her voice trembled with surprise. — Where do you want to go?

— Han Sol.

— Yes?

Kang Yu's voice was so serious that Han Sol answered anxiously.

It seemed like he was about to say something very important.

With great sincerity, Kang Yu said:

— Let's go get some chicken.