Episode 71.
[Jung Si-woo]
[Breaker]
[Lv 97]
[Strength – 366 Agility – 336 Stamina – 346 Magic Power – 142]
[Resistance – Poison Lv10, Flame Lv6, Curse Lv6, Lightning Lv9]
[Passive Skill – Intuition Lv9, Vision Lv1, Chaos Tail Lv3, Courage of the Ignorant Lv9, Soul Collect Lv4, Dragon Dignity Lv7, Heavy Weapon Battle Lv7]
[Active Skill – Super strength Lv2, Grant Lv36, Heavy Strike Lv35, Combat Charge Lv33, Critical Bullet Lv11, War Cry Lv14, Stone Skin Lv15, Cruel Charge Lv9]
“Wow.”
After a clean shower, Jung Si-woo laid in bed at the resting place, still wearing his casual clothing. He looked at his status and started to whistle, even though he wasn’t good at whistling.
“I was level 85 when I entered the gate.”
He increased 12 levels in one day. It was clear that even if he faced a large number of elite monsters and gods, it was outstanding growth. This was all the more so considering that his level was different from a typical player’s level.
“By the way, I think every time my level rises, the range of status growth increases.”
Previously, he remembered that the other status had increased by two and the mana by one. But after transferring jobs, per 1 level, his status increased by three and the mana by 2. During the transferring process, he realized that his basic performance was advancing due to the shift of his body, but he didn’t know that such a change could have come.
“It’s the same story for other players. In the process of transferring, the body is transformed into the best fit for their class, and naturally, the level-up after the transfer increases the status to be suitable for the transformed body…of course, your growth is extreme even considering that.”
“It’s good that I’ve got stronger.”
The growth of skills was even more satisfying to him, and he liked how they had grown evenly. But most of all, he gained a new skill, lightning resistance, and he had to fight over and over again to achieve level 9 finally! Even if he were hit by natural lightning, it would only cause minor scrapes.
Furthermore, the visual skill gained from the collapse of the thunder god was a skill he was grateful for, as it proved that Jung Si-woo’s idea of making the five senses into passive skills as possible. It was only level 1 right now, but he still had the ability to identify small objects or see things farther away. He felt like he had a magnifying glass and a telescope in either hand.
“You only get one shot in your life.”
“Your conclusions are always strange.”
Jung Si-woo thought the trip to Japan was amazing. He was a little disappointed that he couldn’t see Lee Seo-hee’s face using the visual skill, but he believed that they would meet again someday if they were meant to be.
“Oh, Oppa.”
Soo Ah-rin realized that he was thinking of another woman and spoke urgently.
“You said that you wanted to eat eel with rice.”
“You know how to cook…?”
“At least more than you, Oppa.”
She was an extraordinary woman to infer that after hearing it was a man’s dish. Jung Si-woo lifted himself from the bed with a groan. He thought about sleeping right away, but he decided to eat first.
“Then let’s work with some of these monsters’ bodies.”
Fortunately, the resting place was so wide that even a couple of huge monsters could fit without any difficulty. Jung Si-woo sorted them into edible and inedible piles before collecting mana stones from the monsters classified as inedible.
“The mana stones collected from other quests are still there too.”
The Dullahan, Doom Knight, and Ghost Horse’s mana stones were especially huge. If he returned all of them back into mana, he would be able to resolve the imbalance in the body a little. Jung Si-woo vaguely considered it as he continued slaughtering. His work was very smooth. But.
“I thought about it, and.”
Jung Si-woo collected the shining mana stones from the Elite Lizardman’s heart and spoke while pressing down on the scaly leather.
“Normally, in games, you make items with monster leather or by-products like this, right?”
“Right.”
“But I don’t have the skills, right?”
“Right.”
“So maybe I can’t do that.”
“So, you were thinking about making an item.”
The monsters that took part in the battle with the thunder god were also capable of dealing with lightning, but in addition, they had a very high defense level. In particular, the electric eel was so hard that there were no breaks in its body except for the head, despite Jung Si-woo’s terrifying hammer blow. Jung Si-woo thought he could make armor with it…
“The creation of artifacts using monster by-products is probably done on a national level, right?”
“Well, won’t companies from around the world jump in soon? …I mean, if this gets worse.”
Although many high-level monsters were killed in the outside world due to Jung Si-woo’s conditions, it was only because he was in a special situation, but the level of monsters now appearing on earth was sloppy. No matter what you do with a monster’s body, it would be difficult to fascinate players who had already obtained all kinds of artifacts from the sky castle.
Crucially, that level of defense or attack power could be reproduced with modern technology. Therefore, no one had actively entered the market so far.
“By then, I’ll be up against a lot harder monsters than this…so it’s meaningless.”
So, the answer was in the Ant Cave. At this point, Jung Si-woo decided to stop regretting it. After collecting the Mana stones from the elite monsters, he calmly engaged in dismantling electric and armored eels. Meanwhile, Jung Si-woo realized one thing.
“You bastards…they aren’t eels!”
“Come to think of it!?”
The electric eel was originally closer to a carp than an eel. This was shocking to Jung Si-woo, who didn’t know about that. It was even more shocking than finding out that Bruce Willis was actually a ghost.
“So grilled eel…”
“My rice with grilled eel…”
“You could just go out and buy it.”
Of course, these monsters’ bodies were different from the ordinary electric eel, but it was concluded that they could still eat it anyway. Jung Si-woo’s decision was to completely remove the hard scales, carefully remove the bones, and check its flesh.
“By the way, this scale is such a waste. I don’t know if it’s just my feeling, but I think that’s what makes the sparks.”
“Then, let’s leave it for now.”
The scales of the electric eel and the armor eel scales were collected separately, weighing dozens of kilograms. Soo Ah-rin was sick and tired of watching.
“Oppa, if you cook it with rice, you’ll be eating the same thing for about three years.”
“It wasn’t an eel anyway.”
“I’ll give it a try.”
Soo Ah-rin rolled up her sleeves and made a determined expression. He didn’t trust her that much, but it was clear that she would be upset if he told her that. So, Jung Si-woo just handed her a chunk of electric eel meat with a smile.
“Hehe, you’ll be surprised.”
“Yes, I think the results will be surprising no matter what.”
“Hmph.”
While Soo Ah-rin was busy moving around checking kitchen tools and buying spices from outside, Jung Si-woo began to absorb the mana stones. There were almost thirty small mana stones, and seven of them were powerful as the bosses from the fierce dungeon.
“You’re eating like it’s delicious, Hyeong-nim.”
“It tastes like the color purple. Do you want to try it?”
“I’ll politely refuse your offer, Hyeong-nim.”
Maybe it’s because they were small, but even if he chewed three or four mana stones at once, his mana didn’t rise. Jung Si-woo frowned when he managed to secure one mana when he chewed on the seventh stone.
“At this rate, I can’t get any mana even from a hundred lousy elite monsters.”
“Do you feel it, Hyeong-nim?”
“With low-grade mana like this, I feel like there’s a limit to growing my mana. Even though it’s expressed in numbers, the level of growth when one status is raised will be different every time. And even if you recklessly increase the amount of mana, that doesn’t mean that your mana will grow. So the efficiency was trash…crunch, crunch.”
This time, he barely gained one mana by eating ten stones, and he secured one mana again by putting all the remaining mana stones in his mouth at once. As a result, Jung Si-woo was certain of something.
“This isn’t a structure that can increase Mana as much as I thought it would.”
So far, mana could still be secured with this level of mana stones, but the end would come soon. Specifically, he felt like he would no longer benefit from these small Mana stones once he raised about five more. Even if he ate it, he wouldn’t be able to improve his mana, and he could only use it as a substitute for potions. He clicked his tongue and picked up another Mana stone. It was the one from the Doom Knight.
“Hyeong-nim, I’m a little nervous about that black color…”
“Yum.”
“I respect you, Hyeong-nim.”
Not all monsters built up the same mana, and the Mana stones they left behind were slightly different from one another. For example, the difference was particularly noticeable in the mana of the undead and monsters with distinct properties such as lightning.
“The undead’s Mana pattern looks bizarre like it’s been flipped once. On the other hand, lightning looked different because the mana has changed in a certain direction…but I can eat the Mana stone no matter how bizarre it is.”
They all became the same mana. Mana stone intake may seem simple on the surface, but it was absorbed by Jung Si-woo and reduced to “his own Mana.” It didn’t cause any problems to Jung Si-woo because he could convert it to suit himself.
[mana was increased by 4]]
“That’s right.”
Now it felt like he ate something. Moreover, unlike when the small mana stones were consumed, he didn’t feel any limitations. He grinned and swallowed one after another. Dullahan’s Mana stone, the electric eel’s Mana stone, the thunderbirds Mana stone…then, suddenly, he caught one that looked distinctly different from the others.
“What is this?”
Up until now, even though the size and color of the Mana stones were different, they generally maintained the shape of a crystal, but this one was different. There was hard dead skin wrapped around the crystal-like armor on the smooth cut crystal. It was the first time he saw one such uniquely machined mana.
“Oh, I see.”
Jung Si-woo quickly remembered. This was the mana stone of Dullahan’s ghost horse. Enthusiastic about the gorgeous ghost horse…no, the Mana stone that was left behind by the ghost horse, Jung Si-woo examined it.
[The Mana Stone of an Elite Phantom steed]
[Rank – B+++]
[A Mana stone containing the origin of the Phantom Steed. Special processing is available]
“Origin…? Special Processing…?”
Jung Si-woo couldn’t easily understand and hesitated to swallow it because of the list of phrases that he couldn’t comprehend. But it was great timing when Soo Ah-rin called him from the kitchen.
“Oppa, over here…I think you should come and take a look at it. It keeps shining because it is saying that it’s possible to process it.”
“I’ll be there now.”
Jung Si-woo jumped up from his seat, chewing and swallowing all the Mana stones except the one from the Phantom steed. At that point, his mana had risen by a total of twenty.
