Chapter 63 : Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Reunion

-...

The Witch collapsed with the sound of bloody phlegm gurgling.

[ Level Up! ]

[ Lv.29 → Lv.30

Stat Points +2

Skill Points +1

All status effects are cured. ]

Oh.

I don't know how long it's been since I've seen a level-up window, aside from main story progression. Until now, I've mostly been getting experience from clearing quests.

‘You level up better when you do things you don't normally do...’

This damn game doesn't just let you level up for repeating simple tasks.

If that were possible, I would have already rushed to the max level while spinning Conquest Tokens.

Anyway, that's that. I went over to the Witch's corpse to check the dropped items.

Well, I just skipped over the various miscellaneous items.

What I was keeping an eye on was the crystal cluster among them, which was scattering a white light around it.

[ Soul's Essence / Grade: Rare ]

[ A catalyst that can be obtained from a spiritually powerful being. It seems to condense an energy other than mana. ]

That's right.

Items of the ‘catalyst’ type could only be obtained through specific routes within Conqueror, and since the Witch was a creature that dropped this for sure, it was practically treated like a wild ginseng from a veteran's point of view.

The reason catalyst-type items were rare was that they were usually used to enhance items with the ‘special’ grade.

In short.

[ Gnosis' Heart (Incomplete) / Grade: Special ]

[ A rare biological tissue that can produce mana on its own. It has not yet reached sufficient growth and is not in a complete state.

Consumption: Mana Stat +20

Enhancement: Rune Characters - Eternity ]

It meant the time had come to seriously upgrade this thing.

I already knew how to do it.

“...Wow, look at him grabbing the spoils without any hesitation.”

Seo Ah-in's dumbfounded voice struck my ears.

Kim Jin-gyu, who was next to her, added a word with a bitter smile.

“Mr. Kim Gyu-sik did all the important work. We can't say anything even if he takes something like that.”

“Still, every single thing here is expensive. For a rookie like Mr. Kim Jin-gyu, just getting one of these would be life-changing...”

“I don't think it's that much.”

When I chuckled and retorted like that, Seo Ah-in turned her incredulous gaze towards me.

“It's not that it's not that much, it's that you're abnormally strong, Mr. Kim Gyu-sik?”

That's true.

In fact, it was because I beat up B-grade demonic beasts so easily, but originally, even this Witch here was a demonic beast that a large guild would have had to rush out in alliance to deal with.

There was no way the items dropped by such a creature would be of low value.

But, that didn't make what I said a lie either.

“It’s really not much to the person over there.”

“...”

I noticed Mr. Kim Jin-gyu's lips twitch.

Along with that, I could sense a subtle killing intent clinging to his body.

Ah, this was a threat.

A warning not to carelessly reveal his identity in front of Seo Ah-in.

“...”

I chuckled and nodded.

Well, don't get so angry.

I already know very well why he was so reluctant about it.

This guy was... in a position similar to Seo Ah-in's ‘Guardian Angel’, so to speak. A Guardian Angel who was reluctant to have his identity revealed.

In many ways.

“Uh, but you're not getting me anything?”

“Why you?”

“...I did my part, running away, drawing attention, I did everything Mr. Kim Gyu-sik told me to do...”

Seo Ah-in said, fiddling with her fingers, but I just tilted my head again.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Pardon?”

“We’re not exactly on terms to be picky about things anyway. You've been sticking around for so long, shouldn't you know by now?”

“...Pardon? Paaardoooon? Huh? All of a sudden?! What do you mean by that?!”

Seo Ah-in fired off a rapid-fire burst of words with a face that had turned bright red.

What's this. Why so flustered.

“We’re in the same guild. I'm going to entrust all of this to them to be managed as public funds.”

“...”

Seo Ah-in's flustered movements instantly subsided.

Instead, a hint of slight coldness and annoyance appeared on her face.

“...Yes. Well. I expected it would be something like that. It’s not in this person's character to do otherwise.”

“What on earth were you thinking?”

“Shut up.”

They say people suddenly swear when they have nothing to say, but why on earth did this girl suddenly get so triggered?

As I was thinking that and scratching my chin, Mr. Kim Jin-gyu next to me said with a hollow smile.

“You two seem to get along very well, don't you?”

We get along well, sure.

But I had no idea why this gentleman was suddenly emitting a stronger killing intent towards me.

***

So, the joint subjugation ended safely. The cleanup was also finished.

I ignored Ms. Seo Hye-in's earnest plea to please attend the after-party and socialize a bit, and returned straight to the guild.

I had things to do.

I tossed the materials I got from this subjugation to Lee Si-yeong, who was still racking her brain over the aftermath of weeding out the Hunting Alliance executives, and quietly returned to my room.

I think I heard some curse-like things about not making her work any harder, but that's probably not important.

[ !Important Notification! ]

[ You have reached Level 30! The stat cap required to use ‘Intermediate’ skills will now be relaxed. ]

This was what's important.

After level 30, a flood of intermediate-tier skills would become available, so I needed to pick out a few useful ones from among them.

The fact that the ‘stat cap’ had been lowered meant that even with my current ambiguous stats, which were neither strong nor weak, I could find a sufficiently practical combination.

How many skill points did I have left now...

[ Remaining Skill Points: 16 ]

Quite a lot saved up.

It would be gone in a flash if I started taking intermediate skills, but for now, this was enough to deal with the upcoming event.

[ Main Quest: Second Trial ]

[ Detailed information cannot be viewed yet. ]

This one.

‘There's still some time before it opens, but...’

But that didn't mean I could make a long-term investment for the future.

For now, progress was slow because the Climbers were wandering around on the 11th Floor, but the floors above the 11th were all close to a vision of hell, one by one.

It meant I had to pick out skills that were useful for this quest right now rather than for general-purpose use.

In that respect.

[ Attribute Support (Water) / Supporter: Intermediate ]

[ Grants a buff that increases resistance and tolerance to a specific attribute. The effect is enhanced if there are related skills. ]

It meant the time had come to invest skill points in the long-postponed Supporter tree.

‘...Normally, people who take this tree are treated like psychopaths.’

The Supporter class was a tree where if you invested more than 5 skill points, you were treated as either a complete newbie who knew nothing or a crazy veteran.

Unlike the vanguard and rear guard, which provided help in a direct and simple way in battle, most of the skill effects were helpful only in specific or vague situations.

Because it was focused on various ‘buffs’, various ‘debuffs’, various ‘resistances’ or ‘utilities’.

Just looking at the Attribute Support I just took, despite its grand name of intermediate, its effect seems quite bland, so at a glance, one might wonder why anyone would take such things.

In reality, in most situations, it was more comfortable to just crush with damage.

But.

The characteristic of skills that can inflate such percentages.

When a veteran who knew the most efficient combination got a hold of it, it could display truly insane efficiency.

Let alone if it was a bugged character who could access all skills.

‘See you at the 2nd trial.’

This small intermediate skill I've taken now, when the time comes, it will be able to display truly absolute power.

And a few build-ups for that.

[ Underwater Breathing / Survival Expert: Beginner ]

[ Allows you to breathe in water. ]

[ Descendant of Mermaids / Survival Expert: Beginner ]

[ Greatly increases swimming proficiency. People might mistake you for a mermaid? ]

Well, good.

The final goal was to ‘synthesize’ these with Kim Kang-in's empty Skill Share slot.

With this, I have procured the immediately necessary things. At least on the skill side.

‘What's left is...’

The enhancement of Gnosis' Heart, and procuring the remaining parts of Cheonryongpo, Ironclad and Ebga will probably handle it well on their own if given enough time.

What I needed now was ‘people’.

The ones related were the ones I had dropped hints to a while ago.

I went back to Lee Si-yeong, who was tearing her hair out in agony over the items I had thrown at her earlier.

“What? Did you come to mock me?! Don't interrupt my work and...!”

“Please prepare a passport.”

“What?”

“I'm going to China now.”

Yes.

I wonder if Ms. Chang Meirin is doing well

***

The grand mansion of the Martial Arts Alliance, situated right in the middle of Beijing.

Among them, in the garden located on the highest ground, there was a scene that was like a law.

It was a woman as beautiful as a celestial fairy who sat there exactly at noon every day, drinking tea and looking down at the city.

The sight of the woman quietly emptying her teacup with melancholic eyes and returning to the inner garden could hardly be considered a conspicuous act, but the beauty she exuded in that scene was enough to enchant countless men on its own.

Today, too, countless people imagined as they watched the beauty who appeared exactly at noon.

What thoughts could possibly be in the head of that beauty who seemed to have descended from the heavens? What kind of noble spirit could possibly reside in that heart?

‘...Let's cut down on late-night snacks from now on.’

The celestial fairy in question, Chang Meirin, thought to herself as she suppressed her nauseous stomach that felt like it was about to throw up any moment.

It seemed she had eaten too much last night. The spicy ramen imported from Korea was so much more delicious than she expected.

And yet, the problem was that she couldn't stop this ‘schedule’ as usual.

Even just coming out to the terrace like this and pretending to drink tea made people applaud and take pictures like crazy, and it seemed the Martial Arts Alliance thought this was quite effective in improving the guild's image for the better. So she couldn't stop.

“...”

She pouted her lips in dissatisfaction.

Chang Meirin. Age 19. A young woman in the prime of her life who had never had much time for herself because she had always been doing something for the guild's ‘something’.

It would be a lie to say she had no complaints.

She just wanted to live like an ordinary citizen who wanted to laze around in bed all day.

But, so far, there had been only one person who had guessed even a fragment of such thoughts.

‘...I wonder if he's doing well.’

Meirin, recalling the Climber who always maintained a somewhat slouchy attitude, quietly took a sip of her tea.

It was also a measure to hide her suddenly reddened face.

“I miss you, Mr. Kim Gyu-sik...”

Could that person save me from this irritating daily life?

It was a thought close to a young girl's fantasy. She had no connection with that person yet. She had only been indebted to him one-sidedly.

Hmm, well. She was still a half-baked adult whose age hadn't even turned to the 2s yet. This level of fantasy should be fine, right?

But.

“...You missed me?”

Hearing the voice of the person who was the subject of such a fantasy suddenly was another matter.

Meirin ended up spitting out all the tea she was drinking.

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