After receiving these messages, Ajin was currently in an empty room.
The only things Ajin could see were lamps hanging on the wall that could illuminate the room, and then there was a giant door.
Ajin's eyebrows furrowed.
He could feel it, with his high instinct stat, he could feel the menacing aura of something that was behind that door. Without a doubt, it was the room of the "Boss". He could tell for sure because of the enormous power behind it. Only a Boss had the necessary ability to release these kinds of energies.
"No, it's not time yet."
Ajin turned his back then sat down on the ground. He had concluded that he was not strong enough to face the boss.
He has activated his inventory and an image of lines appears on him. If he remembers correctly,
His Inventory only had 3 columns of space when it was at level 1 now there were only 8 columns. It would seem that as his level increases, his inventory grows.
As Ajin was looking at the screen, his eyes stopped to the word [Combine]. If he remembers correctly, there was a game that he played once, in this game, you could combined the same types weapons to obtain a stronger one.
Ajin touches the word [Combine] which was at the bottom of the screen, then the system asks him to select the items he wanted to combine. Ajin selects all 4 swords he had found along the way to combine them together.
After doing this, the inventory takes him to another page where there was the button at the bottom.
[Combine]
Ajin quickly pressed on it and the screen emitted a dazzling light which blinded the young Ajin a little.
As Ajin slowly opened his eyes, he saw the result.
[Congratulations, you got "Sword" level 4.]
Ajin lets out a smile from his mouth. He wanted to know if this combination was going to be a success but now that he got the confirmation of this test, he moves on to the next one.
He takes his sword which was at level 6 then puts it in his inventory. He clicks on the word combine then the image emanates light again then….
[Congratulations, your combination was a success.]
[Obtained Max level "Sword".]
Seeing this achievement, Ajin jumped with joy.
"Hell yeah!"
Ajin thought the sword was going to be level 10 but instead it was max level. But hey it was as if level 10 was the maximum level of the sword.
But what mattered was that the power of the sword had greatly increased.
Strength: 54
Stamina: 44
Agility: 44
(Points available to distribute: 34
Ajin distributed his points. He swung his sword looking at the updated stats window.
Ajin puts 15 points in strength, 7 points in endurance, 6 points in agility, 6 points in perception.
Strength: 69
Stamina: 51
Agility: 50
Intellect: 29
Perceived: 36
(Points available to distribute: 0)
Then….
Boo-oong. Boong.
A destructive sound that could not be compared to before emanated. He moved his body a little, and his body was lighter than before. Moreover, his reaction speed could not be compared to before.
He possessed 10 times the abilities of a normal human. Ajin had 3 times the strength of a normal adult male. He was also 3 times faster and his stamina was 3 times better.
"I don't know if I'm 3 times smarter."
His ability to memorize and calculate had improved markedly. It was as if his brain was working faster. However, the difference in his body movements was much more noticeable.
Then he saw the word [shop]
He tried to say the activation word, and he discovered that it was possible to open the shop without saying anything.
The shop was filled with equipment and consumable items. He needed a large sum of gold to buy them, but that was no problem for him. Because of all the monsters he had just killed. He had won a bundle of gold.
However, it looked like he hadn't received any advancement allowance, so he was disappointed.
Various weapon icons such as swords, spears, axes, shields, etc., appeared at the bottom of the screen. Originally, he liked the longsword type. But that was because the long sword looked cool, but……
Originally, Ajin seemed to be a warrior type. Rather than firing magic from a distance, close-range characters were more to his liking. But that was only in the game.
[Rejected. Your Level is insufficient.]
The longsword option was no longer available.
"What? I can't even choose what I want? Do I need talent too?
Come to think of it, he could be more advantageous if he had daggers, by possessing such a weapon, he could defeat his enemies easily.
“the daggers!"
[ Rejected. Your level is insufficient.]
"……"
Now He wanted to cry because He only had two options left: Axes and Spears.
Somehow he knew it would be like this. Ajin dropped his shoulders in grief. In the end, there were only two options left.
"Let's choose the axe."
[Rejected. Your level is insufficient.]
"Damn it….. The spear then!"
[Rejected. Your level is insufficient.]
"Fuck it!…..."
At that moment, his gaze turned to the sword at the maximum level that was in his hand.
"Welp, I should stick with this for now. Who says I won't get a weapon when I beat the boss?"
Agreeing on that, Ajin walks back into the boss room.
"Time to finish this dungeon."
By opening the big door.
Ajin frowned.
"What should I do now….?"
He was looking at the stairs leading to a place.
There was a reason he kept hunting in this dungeon.
“It gives me goosebumps. »
He didn't need to see it to know that.
Ajin remembered the message he saw at the entrance to this instant dungeon.
The existence of the “Boss”.
Ajin had trekked through this dungeon in order to increase his levels until he couldn't anymore, all in order to fight this "Boss".
He had prepared as much as he could, but when it was time to go down there, he was getting all sweaty and nervous.
Ajin lightly slapped both her cheeks.
"I mean, I entered a dungeon, so I can't leave without taking a look at what this boss looks like, now can I?" »
A certain tension was essential to maintain the optimal conditions. And that amount was about right for him.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Ajin gripped the sword tightly with both hands and slowly descended the steps. Could he have been wrong when the footsteps seemed unusually longer than before?
He swallowed dried saliva.
But at the same time,it's seems there was no problem seeing where it was going.
"Is it because of my perception stat?" »
He couldn't help feeling that his eyesight had greatly improved.
He cautiously climbed lower until he finally spotted the railway tunnel used by the subway trains.
No, he saw where the railroad was.
The tunnel that should have been used by the trains was now filled with jet black liquid.
'What is that?'
Rather than a subway tunnel, it was…. more like a lake or a river now.
Just as Ajin took a step closer to take a closer look….
A long log-shaped object protrudes from the surface of the black water.
Rustling!!
'It's quick!'
The thing that arrived in front of his nose in the blink of an eye was not a log, but a scorpion whose thickness rivaled that of metal.
Ajin slowly approached the beast.
The beast must also have discovered the presence of humans, as it changed direction towards them while moving on its eight legs.
He was getting closer.
As if finding the unpublished prey rather strange, the beast did not immediately rush. Using its thick, long legs to push off the ground, it moved closer and closer.
"Fuu-woo."
As this giant monster slowly filled his entire sight, Ajin's breathing became heavy. His heart also began to beat faster and faster.
Boom-boom, boom-boom.
"Positive mind, positive mind.", he mutters as if casting a spell and has sort of settled his mind.
An average person would have panicked in despair if he saw such a monster. But Ajin hadn't given up.
Before he knew it, his mental power had surpassed the level of ordinary human beings.
If Ajin doesn't give up, he might somehow win if he endures the pain of being beaten.
A cold sweat ran down Ajin's back, holding the sword.
Now it was no longer a game. He had the feeling that if he made the slightest mistake against this monster, he would definitely die!
Ajin controlled his wayward breathing and tried his best to calm down. He had to stay focused and stable here.
"Damn, let's go! »
He recalled the exact feelings he felt when he stood at the end of his first Snapshot Dungeon.
He then recalled seeing the boss of his first dungeon for the first time.
However, this giant Scorpion in front of him had emitted an even more monstrous pressure than that of the Dungeon Test Boss. Which means he definitely couldn't defeat this monster that easily.
From the start, if he thought this boss was impossible to take down on his own, he wouldn't even have stayed here.
"Keurururuk."
They had come close enough that his face was now reflected quite clearly in the smooth, jet-black eyes of the beast.
Ajin's own eyes narrowed into a slit.
"The exoskeleton looks pretty tough... Can my sword even damage it?"
Obviously, a sword would have a shorter range than a steel longsword that Ajin was aimed earlier. So if he wanted to cause a deep wound, he needed to strengthen his attacks.
Ajin held his sword in the reverse grip. He thought it would be easier to hurt the monster holding the blade that way.
"Keuruk."
Finally, the beast stood in front of Ajin. Then he raised his two front legs and bent them at an angle.
"What is he trying to do?" »
His curiosity only lasted a brief moment – Ajin's eyes widened then.
CLICK!!
If he hadn't instinctively tilted his body away, the beast's paws would have entered his chest instantly. The beast's paws stabbed the ground behind him before rising into the air, his joints folding. And from the tips of his paws, pieces of rocky ground fell.
Ajin glanced behind him.
The stone floor now had a fairly large hole.
"If I had been hit by that, it wouldn't have ended up feeling a little sore in my chest, huh."
Ajin's gaze deepened even more. Now was the time he needed to focus even harder.
'It happens!'
Rustling!
The beast's legs that initially looked like fired bullets could now be captured in its eyes.
To the left.
He ducked his head to avoid the beast's left front paw.
To the right.
He leaned his body back and let the beast's right leg brush against him, before taking another step.
To the right.
He dodged the beast's paw that was aimed at his head once more, and took two steps forward this time.
Left, right, right, left, right, right, right, left, left.
Slam! Boom! Kwahng! Kaboom! Slam! Boom! Kwahng! Kaboom!
The beast's paws stabbed and destroyed the ground so hard that its ears were numb with pain.
Ajin dodged the beast's attacks one by one and got closer and closer to the monster.
the beast's attacks multiplied without interruption.
Ajin dodged all these attacks and became confident in his victory. Having gradually diminished the distance between them, the head of the beast was now almost within reach.
The beast's attack pattern was rather simple, so he could get close to it quite easily.
"For now, I'll aim for his eyes."
It was the basis of all the basic rules for attacking the monster's weak points. So he decided to attack the eyes of the beast, which seemed to be the weakest point of his defenses.
"As soon as I stab my sword in those eyes...!" »
Just as Ajin made his decision….
He suddenly sensed that the beast's attacks had slowed down for some reason.
Rustling! Rustling!
Was it because his eyes had adapted perfectly to the speed of his attacks?
Boom!! Slam!!
No, that wasn't it.
His eyes might have been tricked, but his hearing couldn't be fooled. Loud noises from the exploding floor reached him at a slower pace than before, for a few seconds.
Ajin was already quite confident in his rather excellent sense of hearing, so he could feel this subtle change.
It was then that a certain menacing premonition passed through his brain.
When he looked closer, the muscles around the beast's mouth quivered imperceptibly.
"Why is he trying to open his mouth now?" »
Ajin was about to jump three meters and hit the beast's head, but he sensed that something sinister was about to happen. Ajin hastily changed the direction of his jump from front to back.
Then….
Splash!!
From the mouth of the beast, a dirty, cloudy liquid spat out.
Ajin rolled on the floor for a second before regaining his balance. He quickly glanced behind him. The spot on the ground where he was standing only a second ago was now emitting smoke as it turned black.
Sizzle….
The stones on the ground melted helplessly.
Ajin swallowed his saliva after seeing that.
‘If I had jumped forward earlier…’
It wouldn't have been just the ground that was melting at the moment.
Perhaps sensing that Ajin had been distracted, the beast rushed towards him in no time.
Rustling!!
Ajin raised his head. At that moment, the beast was already right in front of his eyes.
Rustling!
Ajin leapt up to escape the giant beast's paws.
Slam!!
The b*star attacks had started again.
"D*mn it!!"
After that, Ajin approached the monster's head several times. Each time he did this, however, he had no choice but to retreat in order to escape that disgusting digestive juice.
When the beast's attack pattern had become two, it became much harder to deal with. If he got any closer after dodging all those slapping legs, the digestive juices were thrown up. His paws attacked again once he had to back away from the juice.
" Shit ! »
Now feeling frustrated, he decided to attack the legs with his sword.
Unfortunately, the legs were also covered with this thick exoskeleton and no matter how many times he cut it, he couldn't even cut it once.
Ajin bit his bottom lip.
“It won't work. »
the beast only needed its two front legs to attack it, but on the other hand, it needed to use its entire body to evade them. It was obvious who would tire first here.
'Fatigue.'
[Fatigue: 70]
As he thought, his fatigue stat was increasing rapidly.
When this stat reached 70, his speed would decrease and his breathing would become too heavy and it would become all the more difficult to move freely.
He was running out of time.
‘If I want to get closer to it, then…..’
Speed.
His speed was the problem.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom! Boom!!!
'Wait. Speed, right?
As Ajin continued to barely escape each of the raining legs, a thought crossed his mind.
"Yeah, I had that, didn't I?" »
He had only one active skill. He had forgotten everything because he hadn't needed to use it, until now.
'Hyphen!'
[You have activated "Skill: Dash".]
[Your movement speed increased by 30%. One Mana will be spent every minute while it is activated.]
Along with these messages, Ajin's body became even faster as if a booster had been activated. As a result, escaping the beast's paws had become even easier.
Rustling! Rustling! Rustling!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He quickly escaped the beast's paws with a snap like lightning and in the blink of an eye, arrived before the monster.
Taken by surprise, the beast hastily vomits its digestive juice made of magma.
However, thanks to his increased speed, his movement now had that certain composure. Ajin easily escaped the digestive juice and leapt towards the beast's head.
Slash!
His dagger nicked the beast's eyes.
[Effect: Fury has been activated.]
[Player's strength will increase by 10%]
[Player's stamina will increase by 10%]
"Yes!"
Two of the special effects Akin possessed had successfully activated.
Kieeeck!!!
The beast roared and staggered.
Ajin did not miss this opening.
The moment his two feet landed on the ground, he jumped up again and climbed over the beast's body to reach the top of its head.
The beast went mad and swung its paws all over the place, but Ajin wasn't going to let those blind attacks land on him.
Slam! Boom! Kaboom!
Holes continued to appear on the poor and unblemished ground instead.
Now standing atop the beast's head, Ajin began stabbing the beast's eyes with his sword.
Stab! Stab! Staab!!
ROOOAAARR!!!
Stab! Stab!!
ROOOAR?!!
The beast raged in every direction, but Ajin resisted until the end and kept driving his sword into the beast's head.
“Keu, keu-ru-ruk!"
The beast staggered dangerously. It was obviously damaged now. Seeing this, Ajin's hands picked up speed.
And finally, the beast's huge body finally tilted to the side.
THUD!!!
However, Ajin didn't hold back his hand. No, he continued, until the beast was definitely dead.
Stab! Stab!! Stab!!!
“Keuruk. Keureureureu….
Along with the beast's final gasps, several messages popped into view.
With his expression of elation, Ajin reached out for the points of light.
Tti-ring.
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[You received 3 extra stat points]
[All of your stats will add up to 5 points.]
[You have discovered "Item:Scorpions Flaming Daggers. Take it?]
[You have discovered "Item: Scorpion's Poison Sac". Take it?]
"Take them all."
As soon as he said these words, daggers made of a iron bone and a small pouch containing liquid appeared on his palms.
[Subject: Flaming daggers of the Scorpions]
["Paralysis" status effect: The target will no longer be able to move. The success rate is fixed.]
[Bleeding status effect: target's stamina will be reduced by 2% per second.]
Ajin nodded.
"A dagger made of metal bones huh. Not a bad item with those options, is it?"
Next was the cover.
[Scorpion's Poison Sac]
[ A purse containing refined scorpion poison. Can be found very rarely when hunting Scorpions. Drinking this poison will give you strong skin, but the toxicity will permanently damage your muscles.]
[Effect "Scorpion's Iron Bones": 20% physical damage reduction.]
[Side effect “Damaged muscles”: Strength -35]
Ajin's expression alternated between joy and anguish.
The daggers made of Scorpion's Iron Bone was a good weapon to replace the damaged longsword. Not only did he have more than twice the attack power, but he also really liked the two status effects of Paralysis and Bleeding.
‘However, this poison sac is a bit…’
Initially, he was very happy to find an item with the "A" rarity rating, but upon reading the description, he realized that it wasn't something he fully resented.
Of course, this effect of reducing all physical damage taken by 25% was a great option worthy of an A-rank item. However, it also came with a fatal penalty of reducing his strength stat by 25.
Maybe he will only be able to use this thing when his strength stat has increased so high that losing 25 points wouldn't affect him at all, which should be in the far future. It was impossible to drink it right now.
"…..For now, I should just hold on to it."
With a sad expression, he put the two away in his inventory.
Maybe if an A-rank dagger and a C-rank medicine had come out, then he might have felt less bad than he did now. Well, he would have just gotten rid of the C-rank drug if it was useless, after all.
Then a new message appeared.
[With the death of the Boss, the interior of the dungeon will disappear.]
Suddenly, his vision blurred a little, then he was back to normal, with a slight dizziness attacking his senses. When he looked around, he found himself inside the hospital room where he had disappeared.
The lights above were shining brightly, and the black liquid filling the tunnel was also gone.
When he looked outside, the night had deepened considerably.
"When did it get so late…?"
Ajin frowned deeply.
He felt a bit tired after all those hard fights.
Ajin massaged his forehead and relaxed his body with a slight stretch. He moved his body from side to side for a moment. He bent his body 90 degrees.
Then Ajin stood in front of the mirror mounted on the wall of the corner hospital room.
"Hmm. Hmm."
He examined his whole body in front of this full-length mirror.
The thing was, however…. He had definitely changed.
His body was in full transformation.
"I have muscles now."
The most striking change was the drastic increase in his muscles. The normal-looking flabby flesh gradually disappeared, to be replaced by hard muscle. Thanks to this, his shoulders had broadened further and his overall frame had also grown bigger.
"Even then, it doesn't feel heavy and slow."
Only the necessary amount of muscles in the necessary places. If he were to describe the overall impression his body gave off, would it be something like "looking fast and athletic"?
He was a guy and even he found that rather attractive, so it wasn't so strange that young nurses from before could not stop staring at him.
"And it's all down to the system here."
After his resolution, Ajin decides to get on his bed to fall asleep.
"I guess it's time for me to leave this hospital tomorrow right?"