Chapter 48: First Death (2)

TL: Haku

Editor: Hungry Panda

Ian, who received two unintended, quite large-scale quests, let out a sigh.

‘At least I know where I need to go for The Remnants of a Forgotten Ancient Monster quest, I really have no idea for the Griffin Egg Hatching quest.’

It wasn’t like he could do anything right now about the two quests anyways.

Ian chose to focus on the arena contents that would be starting in a couple days.

‘The arena opens in exactly 5 days, but isn’t there anything to do during that time aside from leveling up? Since I’m already going for it, I want to get as high of a score as I can..’

It was the truth that Ian currently was overwhelmingly stronger compared to other users at the same level.

However, he couldn’t lower his guard, because as much of an enjoyable game it was to countless users, there was no way of knowing what kind of variables may appear.

Furthermore, as much as this was the first time that the new classes would fight user vs. user, until he actually fought against them, he didn’t know the result.

Ian couldn’t predict what kind of score he would be able to receive at this rookie battle.

“Shall we go raise the Proficiency of my newly acquired skill?”

Ian was exactly at lv 50 and had 0% EXP right now.

‘I just need to make sure I’m not lv 51, right? I guess I’ll just hunt to raise my EXP to 99% at lv 50 while raising the skill level and the Proficiency of my newly acquired skills.’

He was thinking of chatting away leisurely and taking a break for about five days, but it seemed like if Ian wasn’t hunting, he felt like he would get a disease where thorns would sprout from his butt.

‘What hunting ground would be best?’

Ian thought through the decent hunting grounds that were located near Myuran one by one.

And he was able to think of a good place shortly after.

‘The Ant Tunnel..! Right, the Ant Tunnel was here.’

The Ant Tunnel was not a place that real ants inhabited.

It was a famous instant dungeon where monsters that had a similar form as ants inhabited together as crowds.

Instant dungeons were dungeons where once the user or the party goes in, nobody else can go in until they’re annihilated or until they come out themselves.

That’s why in the case of instant dungeons that were commonly popular, there were so many people gathered to the point where you needed to reserve them, so it was not a hunting ground that impatient Ian preferred.

However, this Ant Tunnel was a bit different.

Despite being an instant dungeon, because it had a dozen, similar dungeons gathered together just like its name Ant Tunnel, there was no situation where people needed to reserve spots even on a little bit of a crowded day.

Instead, it was a situation where 30% of the dungeons were empty all the time.

‘This ended up going well. If it’s the Ant Tunnel, it should be ideal to practice the new skills.’

The level of the Giant Ants that appeared in the Ant Tunnel were a little less than lv 50.

However, as the population number was unbelievable, there were a lot of cases where truthfully the users hunting in the Ant Tunnel were over lv 60.

The Ant Tunnel was a quite dangerous dungeon where cases of a decent lv 60 user helplessly dying while solo-playing were frequent occurrences.

However, Ian, who cleared the Dungeon of Chaos, was confident.

‘Alright, let’s go!’

Just when Ian was about to head to the dungeon after making up his mind, a message arrived from Harin.

‘Hm? It’s Harin.’

Ian checked the message.

Harin: Ian, what are you doing right now?

Ian: Ah, I was in the middle of heading off to hunt.

Harin: Huh? You’re lv 50, though? Didn’t you say you were joining the rookie league once the arena opens last time?

Because Ian and Harin frequently sent and received messages, Harin knew quite a lot about Ian’s recent state.

Ian: Yeah, you’re right. But since my EXP is still at 0%, I can raise it up to 99%.

Harin: Damn..

At Ian’s leveling up greed that was close to obsession cause Harin to momentarily lose what she was going to say.

Harin: To be honest, I’m actually seeing a friend today, so I came where our school is.

Ian: School? Are you at school right now?

No, that’s not it, I’m just nearby. I came to a nearby café in order to discuss our vacation assignment with a friend.

Ian: Ah-ha, I see.

Harin: I was wondering if you have time later, so we can have dinner together.. How about it?! You live by yourself nearby anyways.

Ian momentarily contemplated it.

‘Eating outside when it’s been so long is a bit tempting..’

Truthfully, if it wasn’t for the situation where he could not level up past lv 50, he would have gone to hunt without even contemplating Harin’s offer.

However, because of, you could say in all of Ian’s Kailran life, he very rarely had such relaxed situations, he slightly thought about it.

‘However, I really want to use the Current Proliferation skill..’

In the end, Ian, whose heart fluttered more at hunting with new skills rather than have dinner with Harin, turned down her offer.

Ian: Hm.. Sorry, Harin. Let’s have a meal together next time. It’s an awkward time to leave as I just arrived at the hunting grounds.

Ian was still in town, but he lied without hesitation.

Ian, who forced the guilty feeling away, mumbled to himself.

‘Since it’s a well-intended lie so that Harin doesn’t feel bad..’

Harin: I see. Then send me a message when you’re done hunting. Hm.. Since I won’t be logged on, I’ll give you my number.

He wasn’t sure when his hunting will be done, or if he’ll put up with the trouble of going out after, but Ian firstly got Harin’s phone number.

‘Well.. If I die while hunting, I’ll go out, I guess.’

This was because there was a 24-hour login restriction penalty if he died, so it was something he was just saying.

However, he was sure that there would be no deaths for him in the Ant Tunnel, it was basically the same as him saying that he had almost no intentions of leaving his house.

As Ian finished his conversation with Harin, he hurried to the Ant Tunnel.

@

“Whew, as expected, it’s teeming.”

While Ian, who had entered the Ant Tunnel dungeon, stared at the Giant Ant unit, where there were at least 10-15 of them, in front of him, and wore a wide smile.

Fortunately, he was even able to go into dungeon no. 7, which was known to have a larger population number compared to other tunnels.

“Keu.”

Ian thought that this exact place would be where he could properly use his newly learned skill ‘Current Proliferation’.

‘The more I read this skill, the more I feel like it would be suitable for battue.’

The Current Proliferation skill was a skill that created two spheres running with electricity on each hand which were thrown at enemies.

However, if a sphere hits an enemy, the sphere divides into four and flies out in all directions, dealing damage to multiple individual enemies.

Compared to a AoE skill that a high-level Magician would use, its scope and skill invoking requirement was limited, but to Ian, it was a skill with an endless amount of possible ways to use.

Ian summoned all his Familiars, including newly received Jjaekee, and finished preparing for battle.

“Alright, Ddukdae. Let’s go in like we usually do.”

Deu-reu-reuk-.

Ddukdae, who had received Ian’s command, slowly began to move towards the Gian Ants.

Thud- Thud-.

Because of the loud sound of his footsteps from his large size, the Giant Ants’ focuses immediately turned to Ddukdae.

Keu-reu-reuk- Keu-reuk-.

The Giant Ants let out a strange sound as the approached Ddukdae.

Ddukdae slammed a fist downwards.

Bang-!

Just like how they were monsters named Giant Ants, they were ants that were hideously large.

However, compared to Ddukdae, they were small and as Ddukdae was a higher level as well, he wasn’t intimidated at all.

Familiar ‘Ddukdae’ has received 376 damage from the ‘Giant Ant’.

Familiar ‘Ddukdae’ has received 201 damage from the ‘Giant Ant’.

In an instant, several ants surrounded Ddukdae.

Within a short time, he was attacked by quite a lot of them, but Ddukdae, whose total Health was approaching close to 20,000, it was just a tickle.

And just then, Ian, who was waiting, let out a command.

“Ddukdae, Ice Wave!”

As soon as Ian gave the command, a white blizzard began to rage around Ddukdae.

Baaang-!

You have dealt 298 damage to each of the 12 Giant Ants.

For 10 seconds, the Giant Ants’ movements will be slowed by 30%.

And Ly, who had now reached the point where he knew what Ian was thinking even without him saying, immediately ran towards the ants.

“Ly, Berserk!”

Along with Ian’s command, Ly, who used his Berserk skill, began to rampage around the Giant Ants.

There were a lot of them, but as it was Ly, who had faced much stronger enemies, he began to easily slaughter the Giant Ants, who were also a lower level than him as well.

And Ian slightly glanced at Bbookbbook.

Glare-.

Bbookbbook, whose eyes met Ian’s, gave an resigned expression as he used his Shell Expansion skill.

At that image, Ian smirked and slung Bbookbbook onto his back.

He also made a leather strap only for Bbookbbook in order to fasten him to Ian’s back.

It was now time to test out the new skills he gained.

Ian invoked the skill with an anticipating expression.

“Current Proliferation!”

Along with that, two spheres that shone a yellow light formed on either one of Ian’s hands.

Za-Zap- Za-Za-Zap-.

‘Do I just need to throw it towards the ants?’

Ian swung both his arms towards the Giant Ants that were closest to him.

And the two spheres that left Ian’s hands flew forward.

However, just like Ian predicted, the Giant Ants didn’t easily allow the spheres to hit them.

‘Ah, why do these fly out so slowly? They’re total slowpokes. Who even gets hit by these?’

It was just as Ian complained about.

The spheres that Ian threw weren’t extremely slow, but if you could just check that the projectiles were flying towards you, it was to the point where anybody could dodge the attack.

Piiing-.

Ian’s Current Proliferation skill ended up not hitting anything and disappeared into the air without even getting the chance to proliferate.

‘Ugh, if this is the case, then I have no choice but to do it like this..’

And Ian checked his consumed Spirit Magic’s value.

‘Fortunately, the regain speed of Spirit Magic isn’t as slow as I thought.’

His Spirit Magic fully recovered when the cooldown time for Current Proliferation was over.

And Ian, who checked that the cooldown time was over, invoked the Current Proliferation skill again.

And holding the two electric spheres in either hand, he ran towards the Giant Ants.

And Ian’s fists, holding the two electric spheres, exploded onto the Giant Ant’s abdomen.

Bam-! Za-Za-Zap-.

‘Current Proliferation’ skill has hit. You have dealt 1179 damage to the ‘Giant Ant’.

Ian inwardly wanted the paralyzing effect to be invoked as well and reset the cooldown time, but obviously, the comparably low 15% chance didn’t get invoked from the beginning.

However, just then, the four balls of electricity flew out in all directions from Ian’s hands and began to deal damage to the Giant Ants that were nearby.

Za-Zap- Za-Za-Zap-!

The proliferated current dealt an extra 359 damage to the ‘Giant Ant’.

The proliferated current dealt an extra 317 damage to the ‘Giant Ant’.

It seemed as though four or five Giant Ants were damaged by the Current Proliferation in an instant.

The ‘Giant Ant’ has gone into ‘Paralyzed’ state.

The ‘Giant Ant’s movements will be slowed by 30%, and will receive 50% additional damage if hit by Lightning-type attacks.

The cooldown time for ‘Current Proliferation’ has reset.

System messages popped up one after another.

And as the cooldown time reset and two more electric spheres appeared in each hand, Ian felt a thrilling pleasure.

‘Alright, that’s what I’m talking about!’

From then on, Ian’s grind to raise the Proficiency of Current Proliferation began.