Chapter 16
Dugun dugun .
Sponsored Content
His heart was beating wildly . Tang-E’s buffs and Giant’s Power that lasted five minutes were like drugs to Hyeonu . He took deep breaths . This power had to be used in the spar against Lebron .
[The stat ‘fighting energy’ has caused your stats to rise . ]
[The other party is stronger than you . ]
[There will be an additional stat increase . ]
‘Go . ’
The longsword on Hyeonu’s shoulder was swung out . It moved like lightning toward Lebron’s shoulder . Every time the sword passed, the air cried out . It was like the hiss of a snake . This only lasted a moment . The serpent was trampled on and crushed by the branch of an ent .
Lebron’s wooden sword moved quietly . Naturally, it deflected Hyeonu’s sword .
‘I can’t let him do this . ’
Hyeonu injected magic power into his longsword . He was going to suppress Lebron with force . Yet once Lebron injected strength into his wooden sword, Hyeonu was thrown back without any power .
‘As expected, I can’t do it with force?’
Then let’s go with a melee . Hyeonu thought about how the wooden sword was shorter than his longsword . Hyeonu approached Lebron’s side using Bash . His longsword swept over Lebron’s side .
“Hoh?”
‘A decent knight can’t even touch me like this?’
Lebron marveled at Hyeonu’s attack . He would give this attack 80 out of 100 points . By Lebron’s standards, 80 points was a very high score . The highest score Lebron had given to adventurers so far was 50 .
‘This guy, he isn’t a just a showy person . ’
Hyeonu’s combat sense was enormous . Lebron became a bit more serious . This person was different from the garbage Lebron had faced so far . “You—I like you . ”
An explosive force burst out from Lebron . Now he looked like he was worthy of being the best knight of the empire .
Hyeonu was prepared . He had thought about how to link his attacks after his longsword cut Lebron . However, the best knight of the empire went first . Hyeonu’s follow-up blow was deflected .
After that, not a single one of Hyeonu’s attacks landed a hit . Lebron’s pressure was too great . In particular, the monstrous pressure interfered with his movements . Hyeonu rushed forward again, swinging his sword back and forth while also using his fists and feet . He attempted all manner of attacks .
Nevertheless, Lebron’s defense was like a steel wall . It was similar to the scene of an action movie . This fit really well .
Hyeonu checked the time remaining on his buffs . There was only one minute left .
‘I can’t do this . ’
“Wah!!!” Hyeonu roared . He only had 30 seconds left . After that . . .
He wouldn’t be able to do anything .
Lebron smiled when he saw Hyeonu . He read Hyeonu’s intentions .
‘This is the last one . There’s no going back . ’
This person was showing a willingness to kill . It was the determination to hurt Lebron in this confrontation .
‘Okay . I’ll take it . Let’s play just once . ’
Sponsored Content
Lebron lowered his sword toward the ground . The momentum pressing on Hyeonu was also gone . Lebron was in a ‘come and see’ posture .
“This is the last one,” Hyeonu declared to Lebron .
Hyeonu’s mind was blank . His body was in pain, and he had no energy like he had been exercising for hours .
“Hah . ” He didn’t even have the strength to speak .
Hyeonu had burned up everything all of his energy in five minutes . ‘I burned it all up . All of it . ’
Lebron approached the repeatedly gasping Hyeonu .
“Brilliant . I acknowledge those skills,” Lebron praised Hyeonu while handing him a bottle .
Hyeonu wanted to answer, but his voice didn’t come out . It wasn’t until after he took a long gulp of water that his voice came out . “Uh . . . Thank you very much . ”
“You are the tenth adventurer to come visit me . ”
‘10 people? Khan, you shouldn’t do this . ’ Hyeonu was dismayed . He had thought he was the only one who had received the gold coin .
Lebron read Hyeonu’s expression and explained the circumstances, “Based on your expression, do you think Khan gave that coin out 10 times? I was the one who gave the gold coins to 10 people, including Khan . Moreover, a total of nine coins have been returned as of yesterday . Your gold coin is the last . ”
“The last one . . . ” Hyeonu murmured in a low voice . Nine people had already met Lebron . This was limited to warrior players . Other classes would have NPCs similar to Lebron, so the number would grow exponentially .
“Still, you’re the best . Even if the previous nine people merged together, they wouldn’t be able to be a match for you . Take pride in this . ”
There was a flood of messages in front of Hyeonu’s eyes after he heard Lebron’s words .
[You have cleared Meeting the Knight of Kion . ]
[Experience has been acquired . ]
[You have leveled up . ]
[All health and magic power have been restored . ]
[The title ‘New Star Acknowledged by Lebron’ has been created . ]
[New Star Acknowledged by Lebron]
[-A title given to adventurers acknowledged by Lebron, best knight of the Yusma Empire .
Effect: All stats are increased by 10% . ]
‘A title? It is as amazing as expected . ’ Hyeonu savored every word . Lebron, who had been watching Hyeonu, handed him a book . “Additionally, this is what I promised to give you . Don’t be sorry that it is just one book . It is a set rule, so I can’t change it . ”
Sponsored Content
‘Master of Combat’ was the title on the cover of the book . Hyeonu was puzzled . ‘Is it a combat-related skill?’
Going off the title alone, he couldn’t tell if it was a continuous or buff type skill and didn’t immediately know what it did . Still, his worries didn’t last long . He opened the skill book and learned it . His personality meant he couldn’t bear the frustration of waiting to use it .
[A skill has been created . ]
[Master of Combat]
[-A skill handed to a master of combat, a person who is never pushed by anyone in combat .
Type: Continuous
Rating: Unique
Skill Proficiency: F
All stats (including attack power, defense, and defense penetration) will increase by 10% when entering combat . ]
“A scam . . . ” Hyeonu admired it . This skill was handed to him so casually .
“Huhu . . . Now the promise of the gold coin has been kept . You may go,” Lebron laughed at Hyeonu’s action of immediately opening the book and issued a congratulatory order .
Hyeonu had gained a lot, but he still felt a bit regretful . Therefore, he threw out a bait . “Lebron, can I do anything to help you?”
Then an unexpected result came out . Lebron bit the bait . It was also quite a big bite . “I don’t need anyone, but I can trust you . ”
[A quest has been created . ]
“There are many undead to the south of Brigs . His Majesty suspects black magicians are behind them . I want you to go to Brigs to investigate for me . ”
[Brigs’ Investigation]
[There are rumors that the undead have invaded Brigs, a southern metropolis . Find out the truth of the rumors on behalf of Lebron .
Rating: MS
Conditions: Black magicians killed 0/?
Rewards: Imperial contributions . ]
Sponsored Content
Hyeonu was astonished when he saw the quest message .
‘MS?’
“Main scenario?”
The main scenario rating meant thiswas a pivotal questline in Arena . Unlike normal quests, they were fundamental quests that influenced all of Arena . In other words, Hyeonu had received the main scenario quest at level 33 and joined the frontrunners .
‘I led the first round . Now I am back in the fourth round . ’
These feelings were fresh . The events that happened in the meantime crossed his mind . Deleting his character and going to the army, his family’s financial situation, his father’s collapse and the start of his part-time jobs, and then his return to Arena at Yeongchan’s invitation… Many things had happened in the last two years .
Hyeonu gave a wry smile . He remembered something he didn’t want to remember .
‘Please wait a little bit, Mother . ’
Hyeonu replied with a tight voice, “I understand . I will go straight to Brigs . ”
Lebron gave some advice after hearing Hyeonu’s response, “Additionally, there are rumors that the black magicians have mastered necromancy and mind magic . You must absolutely not be deceived . ”
“I’ll remember that . ”
Hyeonu left the tourney hall immediately .
‘The main scenario—I have to do it properly . ’
Whether it was good luck or bad luck, it never came alone .
Hyeonu sent a whisper to Yeongchan for the first time in a while . He had to ask Yeongchan something .
-To Yeongchan: Are you busy?
-From Yeongchan: No? Why? Do you need some gold?
Yeongchan still remembered the 50 gold .
“Who are you looking at when talking about gold? You jerk . . . ”
-To Yeongchan: It isn’t like that . Do you know any priests around level 60~70?
-From Yeongchan: Okay, I’ll look for one . Still, it will take some time .
Yeongchan finished his whispers with Hyeonu and shook his head .
‘Priest? Why is he looking for a priest?’
“His level is 32 . Um . . . ”
No matter how much he thought about it, Yeongchan couldn’t figure out why Hyeonu was looking for a priest . Hyeonu had been hunting in the Black Forest just yesterday . He could change the level of his hunting ground in one day without any major issues
“However, he doesn’t need a priest at that low-level hunting ground . . . ”
‘A priest who is around level 70 . . . ’
Still, it was the request of a friend, so Yeongchan searched the priests around him . All of them were over level 100 though .
‘What to do?’
“Ah, that’s right . There was that person . ”
Yeongchan prepared a bomb for Hyeonu—a huge bomb .
Hyeonu went to the unified auction house since Yeongchan said it would take some time . Inside the auction house, Hyeonu went to a corner and glanced at the items quietly . He thought it would be a good idea to find out what to expect next time . At this moment, there was a big fuss around him, but no one in the auction house was looking at him .
“You haven’t found it yet? What are you bastards doing?!!! What the hell?! Eh? Didn’t I buy you items and give you a hunting ground? Talk to me if you have a mouth, you bastards!!!” A man in red armor was yelling at two men in front of him .
“I’m sorry, Guild Master . ”
“I’ll somehow find out by tomorrow . ”
The two men asked the man in red armor, the guild leader, to extend their deadline .
‘He is angry just because he couldn’t find something? The auction house is noisy . ’
“I’ll believe you one more time . Somehow, bring the son of a bitch with the Dwarf’s Sword in front of me . Understood?”
‘Dwarf’s Sword?’ Hyeonu realized something as a familiar name emerged from the guild leader’s mouth . “!!!”
It was the name of the sword he was holding .
‘It was really cheap . Did I steal it?’
Hyeonu put the sword in his inventory and got up from his seat . He walked naturally to where the guild master was standing . Then he bumped into the guild master also in a seemingly natural manner .
“Aigoo, I’m sorry . ”
“Look where you’re going! Can’t you walk straight?”
“I’m sorry,” Hyeonu bowed his head and apologized . He could see the black skull pattern on the chest of the guild leader’s armor .
‘The Black Skull Guild . . . ’
“A bad fate is eternal evil . . . ”
Hyeonu left the auction house and was contacted by Yeongchan . It was a message stating that the priest would be waiting in front of the fountain at Yusma’s main square . Of course, Yeongchan would be there as well .
“By the way, why is he acting so awkwardly?”
Hyeonu couldn’t suppress his rapidly beating heart . Soon, Hyeonu arrived at the main square . He quickened his pace at the sight of Yeongchan . However, he slowed down when he saw the woman next to Yeongchan . She had a familiar face .