Chapter 26: CH 26

Woo!

“Ah… ah… ah….”

The monster’s cries reverberated throughout the dungeon. It was a dragon. Moreover, this was one that showed up in East Asian legends: a colossal, blue dragon. The dragon was so massive that a single eyeball was the size of a large van.

“Done. If the monsters are constantly present in every dungeon, then this type of accident shouldn’t arise again.”

“Uhm….”

“And as for you….”

Yongno shook fearfully due to the dragon’s cries. Seeing this, the middle-aged man continued, “In general, DIO’s monsters usually take the initiative to attack first.”

Clink!

As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, the dragon’s eyes popped wide open and shone brightly. Instantly, Yongno was suppressed by a sense of absolute power and killing intent!

“Ah, if you want to leave a dungeon, you just have to yell a keyword. You have to state, ‘escape dungeon.’”

Without any hesitation, Yongno screamed, “Escape Dungeon!”

Boom!

Once Yongno stated those two words, he immediately disappeared. Unlike the process of logging out, the dungeon exit was conducted instantaneously. 

“Hmm, was I too hard on him?”

[It was apparent that he’s a beginner user. It’s incredible that he didn’t succumb to panic and remained level-headed enough to exit the dungeon.]

The Seadragon Zygmunt chuckled as it spoke, having been exerting pressure just moments earlier. If Zygmunt wanted, it could have easily killed Yongno before he had a chance to escape the dungeon. In fact, during the time it took Yongno to state those two words, Zygmunt could have killed Yongno many times over. However, Zygmunt refrained from taking any action because of the middle-aged man.

[Anyway, is everything alright?]

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

[Asking me to come here. Although this may be a bit direct, you brought me to this monster-level place… me… a Legend-tier. Copying something at my power level wouldn’t be easy, even for existences like you, the Noblesse. This remains true regardless of whether or not you utilized the special properties of ‘this place.’ Since you called me here, if anyone were to enter the dungeon I occupied before being summoned, there wouldn’t be anything there.]

“…”

Confronted with a situation that he never expected, the middle-aged man, a Noblesse, had taken drastic action. Yet, he soon realized that he had made a mistake.

“Oh, that is an issue. I was too arrogant to think that there wouldn’t be any bugs.”

[So, what are you planning to do?]

“I’m going to send you back. I can’t copy and place you in every dungeon that’s needed for testing purposes.”

[However, if you send me back, then this Boss Room will become empty. Furthermore, this won’t be the only instance of this dungeon’s Boss Room. This Boss Room appears in the Level 10 test and Level 15 test. If the Boss Room is empty, users will be able to just pass through it.]

Hearing Zygmunt’s words, the middle-aged man just shrugged.

“Well, even if it’s not you, I can copy and place hundreds of lesser monsters into the room. I’ll resolve it through numbers rather than quality.”

[Is that right?]

“Yeah. I’m sorry that I bothered you. Return and rest. It’ll be some time before anyone attempts to challenge the Seadragon’s Temple. You can take a vacation until you hear the emergency bells.”

[Fine.]

After answering in spirit speech, Zygmunt disappeared. The departure of such an enormous existence seemed like magic, but the middle-aged man didn’t pay any attention. He started to mumble to himself.

“Well, at least I found out that a Legend-tier monster can’t be placed in this experimental world, which is another weakness of the system… but that guy was quite interesting. Rather than quietly going through the motions in his designated testing areas, he entered an uncharted and uninhabited territory all by himself and snooped around. Who would have thought he’d do that?”

It was already weird and abnormal that a Level 1 user would swim a thousand meters under the sea and go through an ice wall. The majority of users never left their testing area, and if they did, they would only venture out by about a kilometer away at most.

“His ability levels are abnormal as well. He’s at the second rank of mastery in swimming and third rank of mastery in handicraft and enhanced eyesight. Furthermore, his diving ability has given him increased internal force and has allowed him to gather internal force in a brief short-term burst.”

Despite the fact that Yongno was an irregular, his achievements seemed more confounding than surprising. His combat ability had far surpassed what a Level 1 user should possess.

“Also, he’s utilizing the Golden Pill Immortal Technique to circulate internal energy in his mid-dantian, in addition to practicing the Great Strength Vajra Hand as his main martial arts technique? Since he doesn’t possess any affiliation with a martial arts institution or other sources, he must have received these techniques from Mari in the beginner zone. Do NPCs have the authority to hand out such advanced techniques?”

The middle-aged man was puzzled by these various questions, but he soon shook his head and cleared his mind.

“Well, that’s none of my concern. I’m not in charge of skills and characters; I’m sure Sungho has his reasons.”

Of course, there was no explanation as to why Choi Sungho would make such exceptions for a beginner, but the middle-aged man decided that it wasn’t his problem. All his colleagues were wise and thoughtful existences, but they all possessed one weakness. 

“I should head back and get some sleep.”

Although this wasn’t well known… they were all lazy.

***Completion of Transportation Mission***

‘Ugh! S-scary!’

Leaning on the ice wall, Yongno started panting heavily. Obviously, since he was underwater at the moment, he wasn’t actually breathing, but he had been terribly startled moments ago, so he was shaking uncontrollably. Yongno’s response illustrated just how immense Zygmunt’s pressure was.

Yongno looked back at the ice wall but quickly shook his head. He had already gained a treasure trove without much effort.

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‘But that sword….’

He kept recalling the sword and the silver light that was given off by that slender blade. However, if he wanted to obtain that sword, he would need to go through that dreadfully menacing dragon. Just thinking about that monster made him shake. Yongno didn’t have the confidence to confront the Boss.

‘Well, I should head back to the surface… huh?’

When Yongno looked up, he saw that the hole had been filled.

‘Ah, that giant clam. Is it still here?’

Yongno recalled that the giant clam had been sitting atop the hole before it met him. It had only left its position atop the opening to attack Yongno. Once he’d disappeared, the giant clam must have lost its target and returned to its previous state of being. 

‘Hmm, then that giant shrimp will probably also be near the hole.’

Without hesitation, Yongno enhanced his eyesight and used the system’s scanning function. He examined the inner details of the giant clam. From overall weaknesses to the clam’s vulnerable spots, Yongno was able to obtain information on the mob. Actually, this sort of work wasn’t too difficult to carry out. Once an individual understood the composition and structure of something, they could extrapolate the location of any weaknesses and vulnerable spots that may exist. 

Woong.

Yongno lifted his right hand and circulated his internal energy. And when the circulated internal energy had reached a certain level…

Boom.

Using ten out of the fifteen years of his internal energy, Yongno doubled his first realm Mercury, which allowed him to momentarily increase his internal force to twenty years. Yongno then sent out an attack on the giant clam’s adductor, the muscle that connected the clam to its shell. This was essentially a critical attack. The adductor would be cut off, so the clam would no longer be able to shut its mouth and suck in water, one of its essential functions.

It was true that the giant clam still possessed thirty years of internal energy, but it wouldn’t be able to do anything with a broken body. Even a martial arts expert with ample internal energy and skill wouldn’t be able to do anything if all their limbs were cut off and they were only left with a head and torso. Thus, the giant clam had lost any combat capabilities it once had.

Clank!

However, the giant clam refused to go into Yongno’s inventory. Though it couldn’t move around as it wanted, its qi power, or internal energy in the clam’s case, allowed it to muster some resistance.

‘Do I need to disable it some more? No, that shouldn’t be the case, but I can make it so that it is unable to utilize any internal energy.’

Yongno swam in front of the giant clam and stuck his hand inside its shell. With little delay, he soon grabbed the pearl that sat upon the clam’s tongue. Despite the giant clam’s considerable size, the pearl was relatively small. It was tiny enough that Yongno could comfortably hold it in one hand. Once he grasped the pearl, the giant clam immediately reacted, putting up resistance. Yet….

‘That won’t be enough to stop me.’

Though the giant clam possessed greater internal energy than Yongno, this didn’t directly translate into combat prowess. The giant clam’s main function was to utilize its internal energy to preserve and maintain its form rather than attacking. Moreover, the great clam wasn’t versed in any martial arts technique or attack skills other than its assigned abilities. Thus, since it was disabled, it was essentially rendered impotent.

‘Let’s see.’

Yongno inspected and appraised the purple pearl in his hand.

‘This is a great item. There’ll be many uses for it.’

As he murmured to himself, Yongno stuffed the giant clam into his inventory. Due to the size of the monster, Yongno had to force it into his inventory vertically. Luckily, he had figured out how to change the shape and area of his inventory. If it were his earlier self, Yongno would have probably cut the giant clam into fourths and stuffed the pieces in one at a time. 

Soon…

/Your inventory has reached 80% of its maximum capacity! If you go beyond your inventory capacity limit, you will lose access to your inventory for a period of time. Please keep this in mind!/

‘Wow, so heavy. I only had twenty kilograms in my inventory before adding that giant clam. I didn’t expect it to shoot up to eighty kilograms….’

Making a note to increase his inventory capacity once he got out, Yongno started inspecting his internal energy. Since he used ten out of the fifteen years, he was left with five years. However, if he rested for a moment, he would gain back two years, so he would soon have seven years of internal energy. 

‘Good. As I’m getting more used to the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, it seems like my recovery speed is also quickening. Since I have water aptitude, I’ll probably be able to swim to the surface a bit faster than others.’

Currently, Yongno had reached Level 6 in the Golden Pill Immortal Technique. It didn’t make sense that someone at the sixth level would only have fifteen years of internal energy, but due to the system’s harsh restrictions based on user levels and Yongno’s decision to restrict his internal force, the internal force Yongno currently possessed was relatively low. Hence, if an outsider were to observe him, they would inevitably misjudge Yongno. The downside of practicing the Golden Pill Immortal Technique was that it recovered internal energy at a comparatively slower rate in exchange for providing considerable stability and a higher maximum output value. Yet, since his total internal energy was so low, others might think that he used a technique that quickly replenished his internal energy.

Click.

‘… Huh?’

As Yongno peered through the cave’s tunnel, he saw the giant shrimp making its approach. Yongno instantly froze as he noticed the extreme killing intent emanating from the shrimp. When he first came across the giant shrimp, there had been no such killing intent. Instantly, Yongno realized that something was off.

‘Eh? The giant shrimp shouldn’t have any relationship with the giant clam, right? I mean, they’re two different-’

Bam!

The Ultrasonic Punch’s shockwave caused the surroundings to shake. Instinctively, Yongno circulated his internal energy to strengthen his body, but even then, he felt his organs vibrate. The problem was… that wasn’t the end of it.

Bam!

Goosebumps started spreading all over Yongno’s body as the giant shrimp rushed toward him. If the shrimp sent out an Ultrasonic Punch from ten meters, it could effortlessly destroy anything within its close vicinity. If Yongno were to be touched by this aftershock…

‘I’ll become shredded meat!’

Yet, it was too late for him to withdraw. Although his swimming skills were excellent, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid an Ultrasonic Punch. Moreover, the aftershock from the strike would wreak havoc all around him. Defending against the attack directly was an impossibility. Even if Yongno were to convert all his internal force into strengthening his body, the shrimp’s tail would eventually thrash him to pieces. There was only one option left.

‘I have to launch an attack before it does!’

Yongno divided his remaining seven years and took out five. Utilizing the Golden Pill Immortal Technique’s first realm, Mercury, he momentarily expanded his internal force to ten years and concentrated the internal energy onto his right hand.

‘My Penetration Power won’t be enough.’

Penetration Power converted internal force into a tangible bundle of explosive strength that allowed Yongno to launch a deadly attack. However, it wasn’t foolproof nor a be-all-end-all type of ability. Penetration Power could easily bypass thick skin or defenses and send a shockwave into the inner workings of a creature, but it could not bypass ‘spiritual’ defenses like magic power-based defense systems or Self-Defense Techniques. And so, Yongno decided to attack the shrimp directly.

Ring!

The Great Strength Vajra Hand’s mysterious explosive aura shot out and struck the great shrimp’s shoulder area. While the internal force of the attack was only ten years, the destructive quality of the strike was vastly more powerful.

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