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n

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nFor the first time ever, an item with a rarity ranking of ‘S’ showed up.

nJust the effect of 15% reduction in physical damage alone would’ve made it a top-tier item, yet it even possessed two more remarkable additional attributes of raising the Stamina and Strength Stats by 20 points each.

nJust seeing those options alone made his heart palpitate so much faster.

n‘The rarity A items can’t even compare to it!’

nHe had acquired two A-ranked items up until now.

nThe first was the Poison Sac of Kasaka, the one he got after he defeated the snake ‘Blue Kasaka’; the second one being the Gatekeeper’s Necklace after he defeated the Cerberus.

nThose two items were already quite excellent.

nThe poison sac had the terrible penalty of stealing 35 points from his Strength Stat, but its effect also decreased the physical damage taken by 20%.

nWhat about the Gatekeeper’s Necklace, then?

nIt was one of the best items out there that increased both Agility and Perception Stats by 20 each – two Stats he now knew the importance of.

nBut the Red Knight’s Helm possessed the kind of buffing effect that combined both of those items. And without any penalty, to boot.

n‘No need to mention it. It’s the best.’

nHe was fully aware of the fact that he was standing in the middle of the dungeon’s boss room, yet the smile on his face didn’t want to go away.

nAnd if he were to add in one more unnecessary point here, he even liked the helm’s design.

n‘It’s a bit of a pity to hide this thing, though.’

nThe crimson helm that immediately reminded all onlookers of the flowing blood, and the mane connected to the helm itself, made him feel like he was holding an artistic masterpiece.

nIt was only for a brief moment, but he even felt compelled to put on the full set of this armour if it existed somewhere.

nHowever…

n‘What a waste….’

nIgrit’s other armour pieces weren’t considered to be loot, as there were no lights coming off from them. Only the helm could be taken away.

nJin-Woo forced back a rueful smile and cautiously put on the helm.

nPoof.

nJust as always, the helm disappeared from the view immediately.

nAlthough he couldn’t show off his new look, his Stats had gained a huge boost thanks to his new headwear.

nStats

nStrength: 128 ( 20)

nStamina: 87 ( 20)

nAgility: 107

nIntelligence: 66

nPerception: 89

nReduction in physical damage: 46% ( 15%)

nThe numbers appearing in brackets were the increases in his Stats from the helm itself. Not only the Strength and Stamina Stats, but the hard-to-increase damage reduction Stat all enjoyed massive boosts.

nHe was completely and utterly satisfied now.

nHaving confirmed the increase with his own two eyes, his heart began beating even faster.

n‘No, no, no.’

nJin-Woo quickly shook his head.

n‘The quest isn’t over yet, so let’s calm down.’

nBesides, he still had other items to sort out, too.

nWith the trace of excitement still lingering in his mind, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze to the other two items.

nRune Stone: Ruler’s Reach

nItem: Immediate Return Stone

nTwo pieces of stones.

nOut of the two walnut-sized stones, the first one to grab his curious gaze was the Immediate Return Stone.

n‘I know what is a Rune Stone, but this….’

nJust what could this Immediate Return Stone do?

nHis curiosity got resolved pretty quickly, however. The information on the Immediate Return Stone floated up right away.

nTti-ring.

nItem: Immediate Return Stone

nRarity: ??

nType: Consumable

nAn item exclusive to this Class Change Quest. When destroyed, you’ll be transported outside the dungeon immediately. However, once the Class Change Quest has been concluded, it will automatically be destroyed.

n

n

nCan’t be stored in the Inventory.

nThe way to use it was similar to a Rune Stone.

nHowever, to think that its effect wasn’t about absorbing a new skill, but to escape from this dungeon….

n‘Hang on a sec. The Class Change Quest isn’t over yet?!’

nIf that were the case, then this particular item should’ve been destroyed already.

nSince it hadn’t, that could only mean…

nFor some reason, he felt a creeping chill slowly caress his spine.

nWhat an odd sensation that was.

nHe had received one of the best items out there that could help him make his escape from this dungeon, yet why was he getting this incredibly bad premonition right now?

nIf this stone could be used in regular dungeons, and not only inside the System-generated ones, then just about everyone alive would try to buy this thing.

nSeriously, this stone would be the same as having a sure-fire way to save their lives, so no one should be foolish enough to pinch pennies when trying to get their hands on one.

nIt was the same with Jin-Woo, too. Just this item alone should decrease the burden of this quest by a great deal.

n‘If I so choose….’

n….He’d be able to escape at any time.

nHowever, the ominous feeling taking root in the corner of his mind didn’t want to go away, no matter what.

nAnd, sure enough!

nThe warning beep from the System went off in his head as if it was waiting for this moment.

nTti-ring.

n‘Player’ has acquired the Immediate Return Stone.

nThe ‘Class Change Quest’ will now commence.

nSon of a b*tch!

nSo, this was the item to start the quest for real!

nHe nearly fainted on the spot. He felt like he had stepped on something he shouldn’t have in the first place.

n‘If I knew this might happen, I’d have taken a short break first!’

nWhat would regret do for him now?

nNo matter how much one relied on one’s experience and knowledge to predict the future, one would never be able to correctly guess the tricks of fate.

nA strand of cold sweat dripped down from Jin-Woo’s forehead.

nJin-Woo summoned the Status Window inwardly and confirmed the remaining HP and his fatigue level.

nHP: 4161

/10270

nMP: 390

/850

nTiredness: 61

n‘The Tiredness Stat is a bit on the high side, but I can still do this.’

nThe helm’s added effects enhanced his Stamina Stat by a lot, which meant that his overall endurance had increased greatly as well, and his remaining HP had risen up as an added bonus, too.

nWhat a relief that was.

nAs if to encourage himself, Jin-Woo continued to tell himself that…

n‘I can still do this. It’s not impossible.’

nOf course, his life should not be in any imminent danger. Because, he held the Immediate Return Stone, after all.

nHowever, no matter how hard he thought about it, this Immediate Return Stone sounded awfully like an item that signified him giving up on the quest.

nIf that was not the case, then it shouldn’t have been the quest-starting item, to begin with.

n‘If I give up on this quest….’

nWouldn’t it be the same as him giving up on this chance to get his class?

nThe cold sweat on his forehead rolled past his temple and down to his chin, before dripping down.

nGulp.

nJust as he swallowed a bit of dry spit and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, the System’s new message popped up in his view.

nTti-ring.

nIn ten seconds, dimensional doorways will be randomly generated.

n‘Dimensional doorways?’

nEven before his question could be cleared up, huge numbers appeared up in the middle of the air.

n00:00:10

nHe could easily tell what that was.

nIt most likely was signifying the countdown.

nMeanwhile, the messages continued on.

n‘Player’ has a choice.

nYou can escape from the dungeon by using the Immediate Return Stone, or….

n…..8, 7, 6.

nThe timer continued to tick down to 0.

nOr, endure as long as you can and earn as many advancement points as possible in order to access the higher ranked classes.

n“Endure?! Endure what exactly?”

nHe ended up shouting out loudly as his frustration mounted. However, Jin-Woo was already holding the Poison Fang of Kasaka summoned from his Inventory.

nHe stored the Rune Stone inside the Inventory, while the Immediate Return Stone was placed inside the back of his pocket since it couldn’t be stored there.

n

n

nEven though his heart beat fast and hard enough to nearly explode, he didn’t forget to get ready for the battle that was about to come.

nThat was how Seong Jin-Woo operated.

nThe Class Change Quest will soon commence.

n….4, 3, 2.

nJin-Woo anxiously glared at the time and quickly scanned his surroundings.

nHis head and eyes darted around quickly, over here and over there.

nSomething ominous was clearly getting ready to begin; the space around him was separating and twisting visibly to his eyes.

n00:00:01

nI wish you the best of luck.

nWhat?

nFor the first time ever, the System expressed ’emotion’.

nToo bad, he had no time to stew inside his shock. The moment the timer hit 0, several Gates began forming all around him.

nBuzzz…

nWuuooong….

nNot just one or two, either.

nHe first spotted six around him. The number continued to climb up even higher, however.

nAnd at the same time, the timer began ticking upwards.

n00:00:02

nThe ‘countdown’ began again.

nThe time would become his so-called advancement points. He hadn’t understood everything the System said, but still, he did figure out some parts of it.

n‘The longer I endure, the stronger I will get.’

nNo, more specifically, he’d instead get a powerful class.

nThere was no way he’d throw away a golden opportunity like this. He also had some wiggle room left with his HP and MP.

n‘Let’s endure as long as I can.’

n00:00:03

nWhen the timer hit exactly three seconds, weapon-less knights poured out from the nearest Gate.

nThud, thud, thud, thud….

nWhen the knights decked out in full armour formed silver-coloured waves, the ground couldn’t help but tremor from the weight.

nThe momentum these things displayed would have been enough to overwhelm most people, but there was a smile floating up onto Jin-Woo’s lips, instead.

n‘If it’s these guys, I can definitely fight them!’

nIn a way, he was oh-so-glad to see them as his opponents.

nIf the monsters coming out from the Gates happened to be as strong as Igrit, then he wouldn’t even be able to last a couple of seconds.

n‘Stealth!’

nJin-Woo used some part of the remaining MP and activated the skill ‘Stealth’.

n‘For the time being, I should observe what’s happening here first.’

n

nJin-Woo’s form blurred and slowly disappeared. As expected, the knights rushing towards him all came to an abrupt halt.

nHowever…

nThe mage has used ‘Skill: Eyes of Detection’.

nThe crisp ‘tti-ring’ of the warning beep resounded in his head. Jin-Woo’s head snapped in the direction of the beep.

n‘What was that?’

nHe spotted a mage that had just emerged from the Gate chanting a spell. That’s also when Jin-Woo discovered an ‘eye’ like symbol floating above the head of the mage.

nThe moment that eye flashed…!

nIn that moment, Jin-Woo’s Stealth was cancelled.

n‘F*ck!’

nFrom the get-go, his calculation proved to be way off the mark.

nSnap.

nSnap.

nThe knights that stood around like telephone poles snapped their heads all at once towards Jin-Woo’s direction. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie.

nAnd soon enough, the silver waves pounced on him.

nJin-Woo’s eyes opened wider and he gritted his teeth.

nBOOM!!

nHis punch blew away the head of the incoming knight.

nThat guy died where it stood.

nYou defeated the knight.

nCrazed lights shone in Jin-Woo’s eyes.

n‘Intimidation!’

n‘Skill: Intimidation’ has been activated.

n‘Effect: Fear’ has been activated.

nThe targets’ (All) Stats will decrease by 50% for one minute.

nThe movements of the monsters became much duller through the effects of ‘Fear’, but his Mana fell down to 90 points.

nThe Intimidation required 100 MP in order to activate.

nHe wouldn’t be able to use it the second time.

n‘However, I just bought myself a minute.’

nIntending to use this precious minute to the best of his abilities as the monsters were noticeably weakened, Jin-Woo began wailing on them with everything he had.

nBoom!

nCrack!

nKaboom!

nSlam!

nWith a terrifying momentum, he proceeded to utterly dismantle the knights.

nBoom! Slam! Crack!!

nToo bad, the speed of him defeating knights was far inferior to the rate of the replacement knights popping out from the Gates.

nRumble—!!

nEven in the midst of the maddened battle, Jin-Woo sneaked a glance at the timer.

n00:03:19

nIt’d only been three minutes and 19 seconds.

nIf that was converted into points, how much would he get?

nWouldn’t it be fine for him to leave this place now?

nHowever, he didn’t have any leeway to dwell on that matter.

nEven while he was thinking to himself, knights were continuously pouring out from the Gates like unstoppable waves.

nHe managed to destroy countless Knights, yet he simply couldn’t deal with so many of them.

n“U-uwaaaahh-?!”

nIn the end, Jin-Woo was buried in the sea of knights.

nPassive skill, ‘Tenacity’ has been activated.

nPassive skill, ‘Tenacity’ has been activated.

nHis HP was in a freefall now and eventually, it hit rock bottom.

nHP: 1036

/10270

n‘The time is….?’

n00:05:08

nFive minutes and eight seconds.

nHe had endured enough, hadn’t he?

n‘……Let’s get out of here.’

nNow completely entrapped among the knights, Jin-Woo flailed about helplessly in this silver prison and dug through his back pocket.

nHowever…

nDrop.

nThe Immediate Return Stone slipped out from his grasp and fell to the floor.

nAnd the roundish stone hit the sole of one of the knights and rolled away far from him.

n“NOOO!!”

nJin-Woo hurriedly reached out towards the stone, but the knights blocked him.

nSoon, knights piled up on top of him, too.

nIt became almost impossible to breathe in an instant.

nPassive skill, ‘Tenacity’ has been activated.

nPassive skill, ‘Tenacity’ has been activated.

nHis consciousness began to blur.

nPow, pow!!

nHe continuously got struck by the knights while trapped below them, and as his mind began to grow dimmer, he thought he heard a snarky cackle coming from somewhere.

n– You have brought this upon yourself, remember that.

n‘…….’

n– Why did you risk it all when there was a safe path for you to follow? Isn’t it already a huge break for a rank E Hunter to become a C, or even a B?

n‘……’

n– Well, in the end, this was as far as you could go.

n‘……Shut up.’

n– Remember, you killed yourself today.

nShut the hell up!!

nKwaboom!!

nThe knights surrounding and pressing down on Jin-Woo were suddenly all blown away.

nEven though he somehow managed to crawl out from death, his eyes were burning with life. As a matter of fact, his eyes were burning with a stubborn will and sheer malice.

n‘I won’t let it end like this!!’

nHe earned this opportunity after going through so much. So, how could he let it end like this? Never.

nBecause he was stuck at the very bottom for so long, he yearned to be on top more than anyone else. He knew the sorrow of the weak better than anyone. He tried everything to survive, and when he did survive, others kept pointing fingers at him.

n– How will a rank E be of any help here?

n– The Association is being way too much. They should’ve dispatched someone who could actually lend a bit of help, but that guy is… Uh-whew.

n– That b*stard, maybe he keeps surviving by hiding behind his colleagues every time?

nSo, how could he simply watch and do nothing, when a ladder that could take him to the very top was put in front of his eyes?

nWhat a rubbish notion that was.

n‘….I remember now.’

nThat voice ringing around his head just now.

nThat voice belonged to those b*stards.

nThe voice that always yapped on and on from behind his back.

n‘Fine, laugh all you want.

n‘I’ll struggle on until the bitter end.

n‘It’s fine if my HP drops to ten, no, 1. I’ll struggle and struggle on like crazy, right until the end. I’ll fight until I won’t be able to move anymore.’

n“Uwaaahh!!!”

nJin-Woo threw his body forward.

nCrack!

nHe thrust forward another punch.

nA knight’s breastplate caved in and the monster flew away. Other knights collided with it and they all fell on their butts.

nBut then, more knights rushed in again.

nJin-Woo’s movements became a step more violent in response.

nCrack! Boom!! Slam!!

nWithout an exception, knights colliding with Jin-Woo’s body parts, be that his fist, elbow, knee, feet, were all destroyed like a bunch of paper dolls.

nTiredness has exceeded 70 points.

nYour movement is being restricted.

nJust as the warning message said, his movements became duller. However, the malice and anger in Jin-Woo’s eyes didn’t weaken in the slightest.

nOne by one, the knights he couldn’t defeat in one hit slammed into him. Jin-Woo resorted to hitting them three, four times and made sure to destroy them.

n…..8, 7, 6, 5.

nIn the meantime, a strange countdown was silently ticking down. He was too focused on the battle so he failed to notice it before the timer had reached the single digit.

n‘What’s this? Is the quest coming to an end?’

nA small ray of hope blossomed in his head for a brief moment, but it turned out to be nothing but a useless dream.

n00:06:27

nThe quest timer was still ticking up as it supposed to. No, something separate from this timer was counting down one second at a time.

n4, 3, 2.

n‘Is it to show me the time of my death?’

nIndeed, the System did tell him this way back then; it told him that, if he didn’t accept becoming a Player, he’d die 0.02 seconds later.

n‘Fine.’

nJin-Woo glared fiercely.

n‘I’ll gladly use up every moment, right down to the final second!’

nSlam!! Crack!!

nTwo more knights were destroyed in the meantime.

nUnlike Jin-Woo’s unyielding stubbornness, though, his entire body was now riddled with all sorts of wounds. It progressively much harder to lift his arms.

nHis weakened fist wasn’t enough to stop the knights’ tackles and charges anymore.

nFrom the front, one; from the back, another one.

nSlam!!

nJin-Woo was sandwiched powerfully by the two knights slamming into him from the front and back, and he spat out a pained groan.

n“Keok!”

nOther knights pounced on him as if they didn’t want to miss this chance.

nIn the blink of an eye, Jin-Woo was buried under the masses of knights and couldn’t even lift a finger.

nRumble-!

nEven during that, more knights continued to pile on top of Jin-Woo. The silver waves had transformed into a silver mountain, instead.

nJin-Woo’s breathing became incredibly harsh.

n“Pant, pant….!!”

nAt this rate, he’d be asphyxiated to death first.

nJin-Woo’s hand somehow broke out from the gaps of the knights and helplessly pointed towards the sky.

nHP: 93

/10270

nHe was in a truly desperate situation. Even then, Jin-Woo did not give up, though.

n‘No, not yet. I can still go on….’

nJust as Jin-Woo managed to clench the hand pointing at the sky, the mysterious countdown ticking down finally announced its conclusion.

n…..1, 0.

nYou’ve failed to complete the Daily Quest.

n You’ll be transferred to the ‘Penalty Zone’.

n< Chapter 49 > Fin.

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