Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
There was one thing the Messiah Guild always told their guild members .
“Don’t trust anyone except your guildmates . ”
To not trust any player other than their peers .
“The more you talk, the more you tell . ”
If someone who you talked to a lot asked a favor, it was hard to refuse
“In a dungeon . It’s better to trust a reliable guy than to have hostility . ”
But the most important thing in a dungeon was your ability to survive and kill monsters .
Kim Woo-jin himself had taught this to the members of the Messiah Guild when he was a part of it .
‘Kang Young-ji is a typical Messiah Guild member . ’
Of course, Kim Woo-jin knew them . He didn’t have to talk for a long time with Kang Young-ji and her colleagues to know what they were like .
‘Players who could trade with the devil, just to clear a dungeon . ’
But if you were too overwhelmingly strong, they might point the tips of their spears at you instead of the monsters .
“Hey, you’re gonna just leave like that? You’re not gonna give a big speech?”
Of course Lee Jin-ah wouldn’t really know this so he could only ask .
Lee Jin-ah also knew that their goal in the dungeon wasn’t just to secure the horns of the Horned Fox, but also to become the benefactors of the Messiah Guild .
So, he thought that this was a good time to gain some favor .
In response to his question, Kim Woo-jin only spoke briefly .
“There’s no reason to do that . ”
Lee Jin-ah then nodded .
“You’re right . A talkative man wouldn’t be popular . There’s nothing as unseemly as a mouth flapping with nothing to say . Instead a man should talk with his body, without needing any words . Like me . ”
Kim Woo-jin turned his head slightly to look at Lee Jin-ah, who caught his gaze .
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
When Kim Woo-jin didn’t respond to him, Lee Jin-ah kept looking at him . He didn’t think he said anything wrong .
“What is our plan now?” He asked .
“You could say that the group of Black Werewolves just now was the largest group here . ”
“That’s true . ”
“A little while ago, that group was wiped out, that means that we’re the owners of this stage now . ”
“So?”
“So that means that we can now hunt for 5 days without resting . ”
Lee Jin-ah’s expression stiffened .
‘He wants to go mess around like that again?’
He knew that he was about to experience another period of hardship .
Lee Jin-ah carefully studied the man opposite him .
“Well, how about we eat some rice before that? You know I have anemia…no, actually I don’t have anemia . Actually, I’m full of iron . It’s so overflowing that I’m going to become bald like Se-chan . ”(TL: Jin-ah has ptsd)
Despite saying that, in his head, Lee Jin-ah was saying .
‘This son of a bitch wouldn’t give me time to eat . ’
But contrary to his expectations, Kim Woo-jin nodded .
“You have to eat to fight . ”
“…huh?”
Lee Jin-ah, who’d rarely been given even a chance to eat, was surprised .
“Really?”
“Because you always get a last meal before the death penalty . ”
“What?”
Kim Woo-jin didn’t say anything longer in the face of Lee Jin-ah’s surprise .
…
On the first day, even though the battle with the Black Werewolves ended, screams could be heard from within the frozen forest .
The screams were also present on the second day .
Throughout the forest, an unadulterated massacre seemed to be occurring . As Kim Woo-jin said, he began hunting in earnest .
‘There is no better stage to level up . ’
He knew the spots where the monsters appeared the most, so using the effect of Ruler of the Battlefield to the maximum, and with Lee Jin-ah serving as a tank, the Skeleton Soldiers swept through them .
‘My current level is 32, I should reach level 35 in this dungeon . ’
Kim Woo-jin was using the stage that he’d created to quickly raise his level .
‘Damn, I’m going crazy . Being in a team with this guy would make anyone go crazy…’
Of course, Lee Jin-ah was still willing to use it as well .
The hunt, which fit the term ‘hacking’, eventually came to an end .
[24 hours remaining . ]
Kim Woo-jin and Lee Jin-ah were finished by the fifth day . As they wrapped up, Kim Woo-jin received a notification .
[Your level has increased . ]
‘I reached level 35 . ’
It was the message that signified that he’d reached his goal .
Feeling happy, Kim Woo-jin wanted to immediately activate his status window and check his stats .
[The Emissary of the Underworld is now paying attention to only you . ]
His halo paid more attention to him .
Of course, this always happened to Kim Woo-jin, however his expression changed when he realised that the notification was different from usual .
‘Paying attention?’
Kim Woo-jin’s expression changed at those two words, because he knew what they meant to get a lot of attention from a halo .
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
Lee Jin-ah tilted his head in confusion at Kim Woo-jin’s expression .
“Is it because of my complaining(~moaning)? Hey, that was a joke . Between us…”
Of course Kim Woo-jin didn’t respond to Lee Jin-ah, instead he lifted his finger to his lips .
Shhh .
Lee Jin-ah who saw this, suddenly tensed up .
“Why are you so scared . . ?”
[The Emissary of the Underworld wants you to be active . ]
[The Emissary of the Underworld conveys some of his power to you . ]
[The skill rank of the Blood Poison skill has been increased by one . ]
[The Blood Poison skill has transcended it’s rank due to the effect of the Plus Ultra Ring . ]
Another string of notifications brought with them an amazing gift .
…
There were stages in the process in which the halo’s became interested in the players that chose it .
At first, they gained its interest . The players were considered as prospects at this level .
If you continued to be active in the halo’s spotlight, you would become ‘expected’ . At that point, the players had a chance to get out of the prospects and be recognized as a good player .
When a player reached such a level, the halo would want you to be even more active .
The sponsorship of a halo was made up of various levels . Kim Woo-jin knew this better than anyone .
‘The second time . ’
Even though he’d become a player later than most other players, it was thanks to his halo’s sponsorship that he was able to reach the level of Lee Se-jun and the world’s strongest players .
Of course, it had been after a while that he’d reached the level where the halo wanted him to be active . With the name of ‘The Hunting Dog’ he’d been active in the Messiah Guild .
‘It was when I reached level 160 and cleared the 6 Floor Dungeon . ’
To be honest, around that time, even without the attention of a halo, he would’ve been called a monster .
And now it had happened to Kim Woo-jin again .
‘It’s quite different this time . ’
After a little over half a year, his halo wanted to see his performance . And it gave him appropriate support .
[Blood Poison]
Rank: Ex
Effect:
Turns your blood into poison .
Consume Magic Power to create black blood with increased toxicity .
Blood Poison had become an EX rank skill . Of course, all the halo had done was make the Blood Poison skill which was A rank, S rank, and that was the limit .
Kim Woo-jin had never experienced or heard of an S rank skill become EX rank before .
‘Johann Georg must’ve been delighted . ’
This would explain why the King of Undead would hunt someone for an item .
‘But this favoritism is too much . ’
Even then, Kim Woo-jin had not expected the level of favoritism the Emissary of the Underworld showed .
The reason for the difference in strength between Johann Georg and the rest of the players was now evident .
‘I’ll need to change my tactics again…’
And it was then that Kim Woo-jin had to abandon all the scenarios and plans he had made for the Horned Fox and create a new one .
“What’s going on?”
At that time, Lee Jin-ah threw a question toward Kim Woo-jin with a worried look .
“What is it so suddenly huh? Your face is all screwed, did you eat real poop?”
In a situation where he couldn’t see or sense anything, Kim Woo-jin’s reaction was strange .
Kim Woo-jin turned to Lee Jin-ah .
“I’ll only ask you one thing . ”
At that time, Lee Jin-ah’s expression became serious .
“What?”
Kim Woo-jin pointed toward the spear that a nearby Skeleton Soldier was holding .
“How long can you keep standing if you were impaled by a spear . ”
Lee Jin-ah answered the question .
“Hey, have I ever cheated you? If you have, I will kneel down here and apologize…”