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nChapter 54 – Out Of The Way! An Unwelcome Guest Of The Dungeon Comes

n“Hey! Are you serious?”

nHearing my story, Jong Ho was freaking out.

nHe heard from me that I took down Jin and obtained information from him.

nI answered calmly, and continued the conversation.

n“Yes. I already thought I had to take care of him soon ever since Se-Jin Kim from the association gave me a visit. But he saved me the trouble and visited me on his own.”

n“So you took down Jin in one move, and even took information from him?”

n“Yes. I already told you?”

n“Oh boy. You’re scary you know? I’m more scared of you than Jin or the radical faction. My liver is shaking in fear, I can’t even enter this house.”

nJong Ho waved his arms about, while giving me a playful look.

nWhile shaking his head too.

nThis guy’s class was a warrior.

nHis special attribute must be humor or something.

nI couldn’t hate him no matter how hard I tried.

nCan’t leave him hanging with his humor.

nI put my hand on Jong Ho’s shoulder and spoke.

n“Meteor Call! It’s been fun, hyung.”

n“Ah. Wait. It’s a prank, bro. A prank!”

n“Pfft. Ah! Hyung, what’s your passive? A sense of humor?”

n“Hey! I have quite the passive. Nothing compared to yours though.”

n“Really?”

n“I have a low chance to attack twice. Without delay. The passive is called ‘Berserker’s Onslaught’.”

n“Oho.. That’s pretty good. Does it matter if the attack is a skill or a regular attack?”

n“Yeah. Even if the second attack triggers from a skill, there is no mana cost for the second attack. I guess you can look at it as a free attack I get? When I first Awakened, it happened on its own, so I was surprised.”

n“I would be too. Must become better the higher your level gets and the stronger your skills grows.”

n“That’s something in the future to consider. But why do you ask about it now?”

nThe reason why I asked Jong Ho about this topic was to find out information regarding this subclass that Joker possessed.

nI was pretty sure Jong Ho would know something like this.

nI put on my serious face once more and continued to ask Jong Ho.

n“Hyung. Do you know anything about subclasses?”

n“Of course. It’s when you Awaken with two classes?”

n“Yes. That’s right! Could you tell me exactly what that’s about?”

n“It’s super rare, but I heard some of the top rankers in the association have subclasses.”

n“I guess you can’t get in the rankings just my leveling quickly.”

n“Of course. You need to get a good class. The passive too, but it’s all random.”

n“Wait, it’s difficult to level even with two classes?”

n“Yes. Think about it. If a warrior had a magician as a subclass, you would need points in strength, mana, health, and even dexterity. All stats would need to be raised.”

n“Yeah.”

n“If that happens, you’d become a jack of all trades. Focusing on your attack power will make your defense lack, and vice versa. It would make hunting impossible. You can’t do both.”

n“I guess that makes sense.”

n“And there are cases that blacksmiths get subclasses when they’re Awakened. This is also like losing the lotto by a single number.”

n“For a blacksmith that can level up by swinging their hammer, gaining a subclass with its passive is useless, right?”

n“Exactly.”

nThanks to Jong Ho’s explanation, I could understand it now.

nMy passive that gave me limitless mana was also given to me at random.

nNo one knew about the passives other than their effects.

nClasses were the same.

nThat was the reason why I searched the web intensely after I became Awakened about passives.

nBecause there were cases where the passives would ruin any chances of making a living, even after being Awakened.

nI asked the most important question.

nIt was about Joker.

n“Then how about a warrior class having the executioner subclass?”

n“Can that even happen? That’s like 3 generations of… more like all the luck from every generation in your family coming together?”

n“….”

n“I’ve only saw the executioner class in books, as there are not many who have it. Not only that, after being Awakened, they become S ranking special individuals, and most of them end up working for the association.”

n“Hm….”

n“It would be against the law for them to level up above 300. Of course, the executioner class is really hard to level up. Most skills are single target, and the mana cost is insane.”

n“It’s bad enough to have a law made about the class?”

n“Because they don’t know if they will defect into a killing machine. Though if it is a subclass, I guess you could hide it.”

nI realized that my situation was worse than what I thought previously.

nAnd all 3 of them had subclasses.

nThere were two more monsters like this one.

nOn top of that, the final boss above them.

nWhile thinking about this, I accidentally spoke aloud.

n“Guess it’s going to be tougher than I thought…”

n“What? Who? No way…?”

n“….”

n“Am I right? Really? That’s insane! The radical faction’s boss is a warrior with a subclass as an executioner?”

n“No, I heard he’s just one of the leaders under the boss?”

n“That’s crazy.”

nPutting a hand on his forehead, he stared at the ceiling.

nFor a while, he only sighed.

nI broke the long silence.

n“It’s not like there isn’t a way.”

n“A way? What’s that?”

nWith both his hands out, I had Jong Ho’s full attention.

nAt his question, I quietly put on the Lich King armor set.

nThen I put on the Banwol Jincheons as well.

n“I’ll need to carry all the equipment and work hard.”

n“Oh boy. That’s just like you.”

n“Hyung, would you also like to come along?”

n“Where? The level 23 dungeon? No thanks. Thanks to you carrying me through the level 18 one, I grew enough to laze around for the next three months. And are you really in a situation to help others? Just come back safely.”

n“I knew you would say this. I understand. I’ll just bring the warrior skill books if they drop.”

n“I decline.”

n“I decline your decision to decline. I’ll be going then, hyung.”

n“Gah. I’m guilty then. Guess I’ll have to get up too.”

n* * * *

n“Hiyaa!”

n“KUH-UK!”

nHit by the Awakened Meteor Call dead center, all the ghouls perished at once.

nIt was a damage that was on another level compared to what it was like at 60.

nThe ghouls were torn apart, while their remains charged at me.

nHonestly, the damage was enough to even obliterate the remains instantly as well.

nThe number of meteors did not increase, but the size had by an enormous amount.

nIt was the same for Iceberg.

nThe speed and accuracy. Both seemed to increase with my growth.

nSkill proficiency did not only include the level of the skill, but also the accuracy and understanding of how it worked.

nOnce I hit level 200 with it, I should be able to cast the larger and more powerful version without any limitations on time.

nGrowth. Raising my health and dexterity stats via growth.

nDepending on that growth, I get increases in skill levels. The things I needed badly.

nThat’s why I couldn’t be satisfied with the level 23 dungeon.

nI needed to go to dungeons of higher levels so I could obtain even more experience.

nHowever. The association was already putting me under surveillance.

nIf I cleared dungeons above level 23 solo, their suspicions will only grow further.

nHowever, it would incredibly stupid of me to go with a party.

nAfter finishing the hunt and returning home via taxi, I thought of an idea.

nThe most Se-Jin Kim could hold off on the report to the association would be one month.

nIf data of me clearing higher level dungeons come into their hands?

nAnother member would be immediately dispatched to find out about me.

n‘Is there not a way?’

nThen I had a decent solution come up.

n‘Mastering the Shadow Step that Jin used to use, and using a forged ID to run the dungeons?’

nIt wasn’t a bad idea.

nIt was illegal though.

nThe skill Jin used was an S ranking stealth skill.

nIn order to detect the user, one would need to have the Eye of Insight skill and have the level of it match or be higher than Shadow Step.

nThe chances of someone mastering the heavy mana costing Eye of Insight was very low.

nHowever, it also was not easy to master Shadow Step when it obtained experience only on single use.

nAnd I only had roughly a month and a half worth of time left.

nI would lose all my time on preparing.

n“Stealth.. I need an aoe stealth skill…”

nWhile it would use up an incredible amount of mana, it would be able to stealth many targets at once.

nThat would allow me to level it up a lot faster.

nBut I didn’t know if such a skill existed.

n“Hm? What did you say, dear customer?”

n“Ah… nothing. Just talking to myself, driver.”

n“Haha. Alright.”

n“Sorry Mr. driver, but could you go to Sinseol-dong instead?”

n“Huh? You said you wanted to go to Guli though…”

n“Yes. Something came up.”

n“I understand. Sinseol-dong it is.”

n* * * *

nPassing my house, it was a long while before the taxi arrived at Sinseol-dong.

nThis was where the midget’s office was located at.

n‘When it comes to obtaining skill books, there is no place like this.’

nEntering, I saw the midget and his two goons guarding the place like usual.

nConfirming my arrival, the three of them bowed in greeting.

n“So you’ve come?”

n“Oh. What services do you need of us this time?”

n“Yes. Have you been well?”

n“Of course. We’re doing well thanks to you. But what skill book do you need this time?”

n“You already know without me telling you?”

n“What other reason would you have to visit us?”

nSmiling, the midget continued.

nIt seemed that he was being the middleman between these trades, nicking some in the process.

nAt this point though, money didn’t even register to me as a concept.

nIt didn’t matter at all.

n“Ah. Guess the commission fee you got from the skill books I’ve obtained have been quite a lot? Since you’re greeting me with such happiness.”

n“Huh? Ha… Ha… I mean, we did the work…”

n“That’s true I guess.”

nI went to the sofa where they were gathered.

nIt was a situation where I needed information even from these two goons.

nSitting between them, I brought up the main topic.

n“I’m looking for a skill.”

n“Yes. As expected.”

n“It’s a skill assassins use, for stealth purposes. Something that would allow for mass stealthing.”

n“Hm….”

nThe midget was lost in thought while stroking his chin.

nBoth the goons as well.

nIt didn’t take long for the goon with the berserker class to speak up.

n“Well.. There is one, but it’s really rare….”

n“Expensive?”

n“No. It’s an unused skill, so the cost isn’t high. However, it’ll take a while before we can get it.”

nHearing that the price wasn’t high, the midget glared at the berserker.

nI couldn’t help but think ‘What a scammer.’ in my head.

nPushing down my anger, I asked again.

n“So there is a skill like that?”

n“Yes. ‘Mass Stealth Jutsu’ is the name of the skill, but it’s an executioner class skill.”

n“Executioner?”

n“Yes.”

nIt was as if fate had tied these together.

nWhy did it have to an executioner class skill.

nI was bothered by this existence known as Joker once more.

n“The user can be stealthed as well, right?”

n“Yes. Of course.”

n“One week! It’s possible, right?”

n“Wew… Guess it’ll have to be possible.”

n“Good. I’m glad since the cost isn’t much, I won’t have to prepare an Awakened Essence.”

n“Yes. That’s right. It can be done with money as well.”

nIt was an answer that I welcomed.

nA skill that had everything I needed.

nAh. I almost forgot one thing.

n“One more. Can I get a fake Awakened ID?”

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