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

“Hey! Are you serious?”

Hearing my story, Jong Ho was freaking out.

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

I answered calmly, and continued the conversation.

“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.”

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

“Yes. I already told you?”

“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.”

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

While shaking his head too.

This guy’s class was a warrior.

His special attribute must be humor or something.

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

Can’t leave him hanging with his humor.

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

“Meteor Call! It’s been fun, hyung.”

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

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

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

“Really?”

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

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

“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.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Hyung. Do you know anything about subclasses?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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.”

“Yeah.”

“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.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

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

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

“Exactly.”

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

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

No one knew about the passives other than their effects.

Classes were the same.

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

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

I asked the most important question.

It was about Joker.

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

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

“….”

“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.”

“Hm….”

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

And all 3 of them had subclasses.

There were two more monsters like this one.

On top of that, the final boss above them.

While thinking about this, I accidentally spoke aloud.

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

“What? Who? No way…?”

“….”

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

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

“That’s crazy.”

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

For a while, he only sighed.

I broke the long silence.

“It’s not like there isn’t a way.”

“A way? What’s that?”

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

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

Then I put on the Banwol Jincheons as well.

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

“Oh boy. That’s just like you.”

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

“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.”

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

“I decline.”

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

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

* * * *

“Hiyaa!”

“KUH-UK!”

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

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

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

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

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

It was the same for Iceberg.

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

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

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

Growth. Raising my health and dexterity stats via growth.

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

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

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

However. The association was already putting me under surveillance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Is there not a way?’

Then I had a decent solution come up.

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

It wasn’t a bad idea.

It was illegal though.

The skill Jin used was an S ranking stealth skill.

In 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.

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

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

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

I would lose all my time on preparing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Haha. Alright.”

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

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

“Yes. Something came up.”

“I understand. Sinseol-dong it is.”

* * * *

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

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

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

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

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

“So you’ve come?”

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

“Yes. Have you been well?”

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

“You already know without me telling you?”

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

Smiling, the midget continued.

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

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

It didn’t matter at all.

“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.”

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

“That’s true I guess.”

I went to the sofa where they were gathered.

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

Sitting between them, I brought up the main topic.

“I’m looking for a skill.”

“Yes. As expected.”

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

“Hm….”

The midget was lost in thought while stroking his chin.

Both the goons as well.

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

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

“Expensive?”

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

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

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

Pushing down my anger, I asked again.

“So there is a skill like that?”

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

“Executioner?”

“Yes.”

It was as if fate had tied these together.

Why did it have to an executioner class skill.

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

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

“Yes. Of course.”

“One week! It’s possible, right?”

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

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

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

It was an answer that I welcomed.

A skill that had everything I needed.

Ah. I almost forgot one thing.

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