Episode 47.
[Critical Bullet has become Lv.5.]
Jung Si-woo already had several experiences with ghosts in the Ant Cave, and he knew that some of them gave quests as NPCs did in a game. However, he knew that dungeons didn’t precisely follow the quests they gave him and that there was a chance he would be fighting them. He did not trust ghosts.
The only people he could trust were his supporters, Soo Ah-rin and Yong Se-ha.
Even if it was the ghost of a pleasant woman with a kind smile, a priestess in her previous life, Jung Si-woo refused to trust her.
“Besides, it was obvious halfway through.”
“So why did you just leave her be?”
“She was too weak!”
If he were to fight a Banshee, he wanted it to be at its full potential. He knew that if he were to act oblivious, the Banshee would give him time to react, which happened.
Although the Thunder God’s Rifle’s critical bullet consumed more than half of his mana, it sent half of the Banshee’s body flying with one shot!
Because the Banshee’s body is a spirit blessed by the fairy, regenerating its form meant a decrease in its magic. All the effort going to destroy the magic circles to regain its strength went to waste!
With desperation, the Banshee screamed as Jung Si-woo had blown off its main force.
[Gaaaaahhhhhhhhh!]
The soundwaves morphed into a physical force, targeting Jung Si-woo! Feeling the complexity of the magical power, he triggered Cruel Charge as he bit his tongue. He was trying to crash head-on with the Banshee’s soundwaves.
“Soo Ah-rin!”
“Good lord!”
She understood what Jung Si-woo wanted just by calling her name. He intended to combat the Banshee’s soundwaves with his body; she knew the exact spell for this.
After Soo Ah-rin cast the divine power on Jung Si-woo, he turned into a human tank and charged towards the Banshee without hesitation.
In his hand was a sledgehammer, a D+++ grade weapon. At first, it was of a higher level, but Jung Si-woo had grown too rapidly. It was especially weak to face the Banshee.
“Hey, it should work against a monster who’s lost half its body!”
[Gaaaaahhhhhh!]
Before Jung Si-woo’s hammer could strike the Banshee’s head, its violent screams flew directly at him.
In addition to the magical power, the attack was heightened with its physical force. In it included a vile curse! Jung Si-woo clenched his jaw as he vividly felt ‘The Giving Sun’ spell that Soo Ah-rin had casted. However, her spell was still incomplete, and the Banshee’s curse was severe, despite its weakened state.
“If I had not been confident of overcoming this situation, I wouldn’t have made it like this.”
Jung Si-woo’s eyes were filled with intense focus, as he took a step forward striking his hammer. The Banshee took no time to begin teasing him in the air, but Jung Si-woo let go of his hammer headed straight for the Banshee. It struck center!
[Tack!]
Receiving the full force from the hammer, the Banshee started falling pathetically like a balloon losing air. Jung Si-woo met it as it fell; he had been sustaining Cruel Charge this entire time. Face to face with him, the Banshee let out a dreadful sound as it flew away, smashing into a wall.
[Cruel Charge skill has become Lv.3.]
[When colliding with an enemy, a shockwave is generated. It also inflicts additional shocks to enemies nearby.]
[Gahhhhhhhhh!]
However, as Jung Si-woo reached for the hammer that fell on the floor to finish it off, she let out another vile shriek. The scream was not aimed at Jung Si-woo. The shriek was filled with a distinct intent, reverberating throughout the entirety of the city.
[Gahhhhhhhhh!]
[She’s calling us.]
[Let’s move. Let’s tear the living offering piece by piece.]
As if they had not been hiding previously, the undead monsters immediately started popping out from every corner of the city.
No, they hid to make it easier for Jung Si-woo’s party to unseal the Banshee. They were merely conserving energy to strike his party at the right time!
“They’re, they’re coming. I should have cleaned these up earlier.”
“This is how it feels more exciting! Good, let’s do it!”
“Um, Hyeongnim, but how…”
Yong Se-ha was the first to notice something strange about the situation. While Jung Si-woo sprinted towards the Banshee, completely ignoring mob of undead from all directions, she heard a sound coming from a far place, resembling an iron door opening. Thereafter, Jung Si-woo realized it.
“This can’t be…”
“This can’t be or whatever, it sounds like the boss room opening.”
This was the second time a boss room opened without Jung Si-woo’s accord. He was in slight shock. He was aware that the Banshee was the hidden boss, but to think that it’d be hiding the dungeon boss!
What kind of boss opens his room when ordered to? This damned dungeon!
[I shall eat your soul and regain my strength! I shall climb to the top and maketh a new cemetery!]
“It’s good to dream big, for sure.”
Though he sensed the monsters closing in on him, Jung Si-woo leisurely responded as he spun his hammer with tremendous force. The hordes of zombies and ghouls attacking him under the Banshee’s orders bounced in all directions like bowling pins hit by a bowling ball, immediately turning into dollars and beads. Jung Si-woo was the only one playing a mini-game in the midst of the of a horror movie.
“I’ll help you dream those sweet dreams of yours forever.”
[Kyahhhhhhh!]
The Banshee knew she’d be done for as soon as she narrowed the gap between them. Thus, she continued her most forceful spell, continuing to shriek and adding distance from him. What was left of the The Giving Sun spell completely vanished from the attacks.
Meanwhile, the undead monsters squalled towards Jung Si-woo, as if her shrieks had given them buff. They were completely unaware just how precious life was.
“Shoot another magic bullet, Oppa. Just one hit, and it will all be over.”
“You think I don’t know that? I don’t have enough mana.”
“Hu… to think that you’re lacking mana, even though you have way more than before!”
Even if Jung Si-woo was an exceptional warrior, there was no way to kill all the undead monsters in this entire city and the Banshee at the same time.
Although dozens of monsters were dying and their siege was breaking, the boss room was gradually moving closer to the city. The boss monster’s presence was only getting closer!
[You made a mistake! A big mistake, a mistake that arrogant humans always make!]
[Ooooooooooooo!]
Shouts reverberated throughout the entire city, as though they were responding to what the Banshee had said. The boss monster had entered the city! It smiled as it heard the shout and released all of the magic left inside of itself. The curse she casted formed into a chain of spirits and flew to Jung Si-woo!
[Die as you are! You shall become mine!]
“Hmph, Bless!”
Soo Ah-rin urgently manifested additional spells and poured all her remaining power into Jung Si-woo, but he felt like it wouldn’t be enough to withstand the Banshee’s curse.
Surely he could endure the curse and kill the boss monster first, then make his way to the undead monsters, and finally kill the Banshee…
“This might take a lot of clearing time. No matter how much I think about it, it would be better completely finish the Banshee first, then deal with the boss monster.”
Jung Si-woo closed his eyes as he saw the inevitable chain of spirit bodies closing in. Along with the processed mana and the divine power Soo Ah-rin granted him, he visualized a new power that could weaken and dissolve the curse.
Just like this, it felt like the curse’s energy would melt away and disappear. But what if Jung Si-woo reinforced it with his own mana? Wasn’t it just mana to begin with?
Even if Jung Si-woo couldn’t make it himself, wouldn’t it be possible to strengthen the existing energy?
It was an overly presumptuous idea for a beginner who had just learned to channel mana. Still, with will and effort, it was mana’s nature to appeal to Jung Si-woo, someone who dealt with it like it was a child’s plaything.
“Okay, I think it might work. I can’t create the complete structure, but I can elevate the strength of Giving Sun by placing my energy during the gap. It is important to strengthen the energy without altering it. It seems like the Grant skill can work…”
“Hyeongnim, we’re going to go ahead!”
As Jung Si-woo suddenly was unable to move, Yong Se-ha, feeling anxious, jumped out of his arms and returned to true form. Se-ha was a warrior in armor, holding a charging lance!
“Haaaaaaaaaa! Intrepid rush!”
“You should know that it’s shameful to praise your own self.”
“This is the skill name, Sunbaenim! Haaaaaaa!”
[Retch!]
[There was no human like that!]
As Yong Se-ha regained his original form, he yelled, charging forward, throwing all of the undead that were headed towards Jung Si-woo. The monsters were on a higher level than him, but it was possible because he consumed all the mana he could handle in a single blow.
“Hyeonnim, are you going to keep standing still!? The boss monster is in my field of vision, but it looks like a massive ghoul. I can already tell I won’t be able to stop it!”
“Yes, now we can do it. Like this….!”
By the time Jung Si-woo opened his eyes, a chain of spirit bodies, propelled from the Banshee, were tightly wrapped around his arms and legs.
“Oppa….!?”
“Hyeongnim, they’re coming!”
In this life or death moment, Jung Si-woo activated his mana, and the chains around his arms began to crack, starting to melt away.
Grant Skill was a success. His body started to fill with the energy of Giving Sun, and it was gradually amplifying!
[Grant Skill has become Lv.27.]
[What!?]
“Oppa, what is going on!?”
Banshee and Soo Ah-rin, both skilled in managing mana, had realized what he had done. Did he really just amplify the Divine Power with his own mana!?
Jung Si-woo smirked at the Banshee, who was dumbstruck at what happened. The Giant Ghoul was already running towards him, decimating the city, but there was no way he would be faster than Jung Si-woo.
“It’s time for bed!”
Jung Si-woo firmly held onto the chain of spirit bodies around his arms and pulled with force. The Banshee, still taken aback, had no chance to loosen the chain and was dragged along. It dragged at an unbelievable speed!
[Kyaaahhhhhhhh!]
The Banshee screamed with the little mana she had left from having to create the chains. However, waiting for her was none other than Jung Si-woo’s rock-hard fist.
[Kek!]
A Fist Smash filled with Divine Power! Having been hit straight center, the Banshee vanished immediately, leaving only dollars and beads. She was a force to be reckoned with, but in the end, she met a futile death for getting entangled with Jung Si-woo.
[Kuohhhhhhhhh!]
Meanwhile, the Giant Ghoul, who escaped from the boss room at the Banshee’s command, witnessed his owner’s futile death from two steps afar. He bellowed in a fit of rage.
However, its screams didn’t have any curses. It could not make Jung Si-woo shrink in fear. After checking that his fist still had the Divine Power, he responded to the creature with a smirk on his face.
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll be able to sleep next to your owner soon enough.”
The first undead dungeon in his life. Here, Jung Si-woo had felt the Divine Power, and succeeded in learning a new way to use mana.
