SS-Rank Passive Skill

[Unable to equip].

— This damn class…

He sighed heavily and looked at the "Class" section in his status window.

Class: Berserker.

At first, he thought it was a rare, hidden class, but it turned out to be just garbage.

Unable to wear armor, mana level like an ordinary person – in any game, this would be a failed character.

The temperature here was comfortable, but he couldn't fight naked.

His clothes had burned away during the explosion.

Even with C-rank defense, he needed armor.

Otherwise, I'll lose all my dignity.

In the end, he didn't find anything suitable.

He had to make do with the shield.

He went to the place where the portals appeared and waited.

[00:00].

24 hours passed.

A bright orange portal appeared.

Jonghyun calmed down a bit, seeing that it was a D-rank dungeon again.

— Good thing it's not C-rank or higher.

Now he felt more confident fighting D-rank monsters.

He had learned new skills, so he no longer needed to blow himself up.

Super Regeneration didn't eliminate pain.

He endured excruciating pain just to survive.

What kind of monsters will appear this time?

Hopefully something weak.

The portal fully formed, and monsters began to emerge.

No one knew how strong they would be.

Seeing the monsters, Jonghyun smiled.

[Slime].

Soft, jelly-like monsters. Their weakness was the core inside their bodies.

The slime's acid couldn't corrode human clothing.

He calmly approached the portal and began piercing the slimes' cores with his dagger.

Five strikes to reach the core, and that was it.

[Cain's Dagger (A)].

[Attack speed increases as the battle continues].

The A-rank dagger fit perfectly in his hand, and Jonghyun immediately felt the difference.

He enjoyed slicing through the slime with his new weapon.

When else would he have the chance to use an A-rank artifact?

It was just a pity that the opponents were too weak.

It's been about two hours, probably.

Slime continued to emerge from the portal.

Jonghyun learned to kill the slime with one precise strike.

He stood at the portal, preventing the slime from exiting, like a warrior with a shield.

I've probably killed about a thousand already.

[Learn the skill "Pierce"?]

Thanks to repetitive actions, he had a chance to learn a new skill.

He had read online that the more often you repeat the same action, the higher the chance of receiving a message about a new skill.

[Did you know that skills can evolve?]

Someone on a forum wrote that by constantly using a low-rank skill, you could increase its level.

Jonghyun thought it was just someone's stupid joke.

And he wasn't the only one who thought so.

All the commenters laughed at the author of the post.

He remembered those comments.

ㅇㅇ: Lol, are you even awakened?

┕ Yes, I'm awakened.

Future SSS-rank Hunter: Dude, go to sleep, stop writing nonsense.

┕ What nonsense? I just wanted to help newbies.

Chowon: This is why we need a real-name system for hunters. Everyone writes whatever they want.

Dheyx: 99.999% here know this is bullshit, but they still fall for it, lol.

At first, he patiently responded to each comment, but then stopped when they started insulting him.

Back then, I thought it was just a joke.

[Pierce (E)].

— Increases attack accuracy.

A useless skill of the lowest rank, but still better than nothing.

With his low mana level, it was difficult for him to learn A-rank skills.

He had learned Wall of Fire only thanks to the elixir.

And Corpse Explosion, which created a powerful explosion by igniting a body, was too dangerous for constant use.

Do I really need to use a skill a thousand or a million times for it to evolve?

He learned the skill.

The floor around him was covered in slime.

His health regenerated faster than new slime appeared.

He monotonously repeated the same actions, like in some RPG.

It was good that no strong monsters appeared, but it was terribly boring.

— When will this end?!

This time, the slime was pale pink.

When he pierced the core of the pink slime…

Boom!

A deafening roar erupted.

Flames engulfed the entire dungeon, and Jonghyun's body was torn apart by the shockwave.

If he hadn't instinctively covered his head with his hands, he would have died on the spot.

His arms and legs flew in different directions, and he lost consciousness.

He felt something cold and sticky on his back.

Although his arms and legs had been torn off, he moved them and realized they had regenerated.

He shook off the slime and looked around.

He remembered what had happened before he lost consciousness.

He clutched his head and leaned against the wall.

— Ouch!

He had managed to protect his head from the explosion, but he hit it hard against the wall, and now he had a concussion.

It seemed that even Super Regeneration couldn't quickly heal head injuries.

I need to protect my head, neck, and heart.

He decided to deal with the slime first.

Now, in addition to the regular slime, there was also a translucent one.

Mutants?

Slime filled the entire space.

He looked around for a weapon. His dagger had flown off during the explosion, but it wasn't far.

[Cain's Dagger (A)].

[Attack speed increases as the battle continues].

Since the fight was interrupted when he lost consciousness, the dagger no longer fit in his hand as perfectly as before.

Bang, bang, bang.

The slime began to explode like a chain reaction.

Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!

The explosions grew stronger, and Jonghyun's fear intensified.

This is what it's like to have both your legs explode.

He gritted his teeth, feeling the nerve endings in his legs burn.

If it weren't for Super Regeneration, he would have died from the pain.

He leaned against the wall, waiting for the explosions to end. He curled up in a ball, trying to shield himself from the fire.

He had become too relaxed after receiving new stats and A-rank artifacts.

Just yesterday, he was an E-rank hunter, despised by everyone.

Having achieved D-rank and cleared a dungeon alone, he felt like a hero.

If he lost consciousness again, the slime would likely respawn.

He covered his head with his hands.

He waited for the explosions to stop.

His hands turned red and were covered in black spots.

The skin peeled off like from a rotting branch.

The temperature remained at 1500-2000 degrees for an hour, then dropped sharply.

He crawled towards the portal.

His body was recovering slower than usual, and he had to crawl without legs.

If it weren't for Super Regeneration, he would have died.

Scrape-scrape.

He crawled, leaning on his hands, and his burned skin scraped against the floor.

He cried bloody tears, slowly moving towards the portal.

Because of the smoke and heat, the portal seemed very far away.

It was difficult for him to breathe.

Every breath was like a knife stabbing his lungs.

He had never smoked, but he felt the same pain as a terminal lung cancer patient.

Leaving a bloody trail behind him, he reached the portal.

He lay on his stomach and pierced the slime emerging from the portal.

Each strike at the core caused an explosion, but it was better than hundreds of slimes exploding at once.

The slime was the size of a soccer ball, so he could kill it even while lying on the ground.

Bang!

Each explosion left new burns on his body.

They weren't as severe as from Corpse Explosion, so he endured the pain and continued killing the slime.

He knew that if he let it accumulate, it would only get worse.

His fingers were burning, but regeneration was faster.

If he hadn't gotten used to the pain of burns, he would have lost consciousness and died long ago.

[Skill level "Pierce" increased].

[Pierce (D)].

His theory that basic skills could be developed proved to be correct.

Incredible.

He continued piercing the slime until his hands began to melt and the dagger rusted.

After 10 hours, a message appeared:

[You have destroyed the slime].

Seeing the portal close, he closed his eyes in relief.

[22:28].

He realized that about an hour and a half had passed because a new timer appeared before his eyes.

He regained consciousness, but his hands, which had melted from the slime, were healing very slowly. Fortunately, his legs had recovered.

An A-rank skill after all.

But looking at the timer, he lost all hope.

— I'm so sick of this…

Tears rolled down his cheeks.

He looked at the dagger lying nearby.

Its blade was completely destroyed by the explosions.

— Ah…

His legs trembled, he fell to his knees, and stared into the void.

[12:05].

He spent 10 hours trying to calm down.

He thought about his sister in the hospital to keep himself from going insane.

[Body restored].

The burns on his hands, face, and body disappeared, and his scorched hair became thick and shiny again.

His body was recovering thanks to the system, but he had to deal with his emotional wounds himself.

— Status Window.

He thought that perhaps the rank of Super Regeneration increased with use.

Name: Kim Jonghyun / Class: Berserker / Rank: D+

Stats:

Attack: D+

Defense: C+

Stamina: D+

Strength: D

Agility: D

Mana: E+

Skills:

Passive: Super Regeneration / Active: Corpse Explosion, Pierce…

The other stats remained the same, but attack and defense received a "+" sign.

This meant he was getting stronger.

It seemed that his passive skill increased his stats as he received and healed injuries.

Hmm…

Or maybe he was getting stronger by killing monsters?

He had too little data to understand how his new skill worked.

He would figure it out eventually.

For now, he needed to survive.

Jonghyun clenched his fists and his lips.