Chapter 58 – Adding a Rhythm to Growth (2)

The Union Lizardman was not a hidden boss, and appeared 100% of the time.

A boss that appears after defeating all the mobs in the dungeon.

That’s why the chance for an item drop was high.

What I wanted to get was the Gauntlet.

Covered in the tough scales of the lizardmen, it was a defensive equipment with amazing properties.

It increased all magic resistances by 20%.

However, despite having a high drop chance in comparison to the hidden boss, this wasn’t a dungeon that was open to everyone.

Only the highest rankers could clear this dungeon, or it was split between a party group.

The Lich King’s armor set gave 20% magic resistance and 20% physical resistance.

In comparison, the Gauntlet only increased my magic resistance by 20%.

Even if it was dropping from a level 28 dungeon, it was far lower in quality than the equipment dropped from the level 23 dungeon.

However, the Lich King was a hidden boss. It could not even begin to compare with the Union Lizardman in terms of both offensive and defensive capabilities.

The lowest ranking Lich King was stronger than the Union Lizardman after all.

The higher level dungeons had greater amount of experience and lots of stronger monsters, but the items you could obtain from the boss were only affected by the boss’s rank, not the dungeon itself.

Suddenly, from within the boss, a bone chilling noise was heard.

“….”

It was enough to give me goosebumps.

It sounded like a pot filled with cockroaches were fighting over food.

The bugs seemed to be susceptible to fire and electricity.

However, attacks like Glacial Field that had a frost attribute only seemed to slow them down, not causing any serious harm to them.

They really were like cockroaches, showing resilience in all types of environments.

With my hand raised to the sky, a huge Meteor Call answered.

Since time was of the essence for my growth, I had to take it down as fast as possible.

Meteor struck directly onto its body.

The weapons and armors stuck onto the mass of bugs fell apart.

If I wasted any more time, it would be able to recover its form.

I had to rip their core cells apart with powerful magic before they began to regenerate.

I ran towards the area where some of them fell apart to.

I had to immediately run toward the center and cast Fire Shock.

The bugs that fell apart were crushed underfoot, the sound of them popping continued as I made my way.

Each bug was weak.

They were being squashed like normal bugs, not monsters.

But as they grouped, they used their synergetic ability to obtain power and defensive capabilities.

That’s why while they were blown apart by powerful magic, it was my only chance to cause some serious damage.

Within a 15m radius, the area was dyed in red flames.

A level 200 Flame Shock was being cast.

The flames consumed not only bugs, but armor and weapons made from condensed mana as well.

All within the range of the spell were removed from existence, almost as if they never existed in the first place.

It was then.

“Kurururu.”

“Guess you need to get hit one more time?”

The bugs that were blown apart began to regroup once more, reforming a body roughly half its original size.

I really wanted to cast Iceberg.

But their resilience was insane even within the spell, so it couldn’t cause much damage.

To effectively damage them, they needed to be split apart, but Iceberg could not do that.

Thankfully, both the cast time and cool down of Meteor Call were 1 minute.

So it would only take 2 more minutes before I was able to use my powerful Meteor Call again.

Even if Meteor Call hit numerous numbers of bugs, I could only obtain a single use worth of the skill.

If each bug gave me 1 use of Meteor Call in terms of skill experience, I would have been able to hit level 200 in one go.

Thanks to my Meteor Call, it was completely annihilated.

A massive rank A stone appeared.

Since it wasn’t a hidden boss, it did not drop a skill book.

However…

“Did it drop?”

I saw the form of the gauntlet, unaffected by the glow of the stone.

It was giving off jade-like glow.

And like the rainbow, each scale was emitting a slightly different color.

Even without the defensive capabilities, this gauntlet would be a work of art.

I stopped myself from admiring it for too long, and equipped the gauntlet.

Unlike how the exterior appeared at first glance, it allowed smooth movement without issues.

I looked up at the status window.

*All physical resistances up by 40%.

*All magic resistances up by 55%.

“Huh?”

It was supposed to be up by 60%.

There was a missing 5%.

“Ah. So they are split apart by ranks?”

The Lich King’s helmet and armor was from defeating the red glowing Lich King, so the item drop had the maximum stats possible for the gear.

With a sigh, I settled for less with the mid-tier gauntlet for now, equipping it.

All the other Awakened cleared the level 28 dungeon about 3 to 4 times on average a day, despite the dungeon staying open for only an hour after entering.

If an Awakened hunted for 10 hours, it would make sense that they clear it 10 times.

However, since that was not the case, it meant that it would take that long to recharge their mana.

Unlike them, I could clear the dungeon in 40 minutes, and continue to run without the need to rest.

Thanks to all the skills that were rising up in levels, I needed tons of Awakened Essences.

Now with all the Gauntlet drops I’ll be getting, I could sell it for Awakened Essences, since no amount of money could buy one.

If the highest ranking one drops, I’ll be wearing it of course.

Hunting, growth, and even gear could be obtained with this method.

It didn’t take long for me to arrive at the exit portal of the dungeon with my backpack filled with goodies from the run.

It was annoying, but I casted Silent and Mass Stealth Jutsu before heading outside.

Annoying bugs could be waiting outside too, after all.

* * * *

Since I could run into Awakened who could be trying to enter the dungeon, I made my body as small as possible before heading outside.

Oddly enough, it was quiet and still outside.

Almost as if the dungeon exit took me to another place altogether.

“… What the? Where is everyone?”

There were roughly a 100 Awakened here before.

But within the 40 minutes of clearing this dungeon, there wasn’t enough half the number left.

And the remaining Awakened, instead of making small talk like before, were looking at their smartphone with serious expressions.

It was then.

The smartphone that wasn’t ringing before due to the interference of the dungeon began to shake.

Missed calls as well as text.

It vibrated for about 20 times before stopping.

“What? I shouldn’t be getting this many calls…”

My hand naturally went towards the smartphone.

Checking the message, I knew something big went down.

The message said the following.

-Emergency Situation-

Current time 21:32.

Near Hwaseong’s Jebudo Island beach front, a level 29 portal explosion occurred.

All residents are to evacuate to the nearest Association building immediately.

All magicians in the area are to gather at the designated location.

Address: Hwaseong- si, Gyeonggi-do….

“….”

A level 29 portal and above exploding has never happened to this day.

All the portals that exploded so far were level 28, but there was a text that said a level 29 portal has exploded.

‘An earthquake out of nowhere, and now a portal exploding?’

A level 29 portal required at least 100 Awakened ranging at levels of 300 to 400 to clear it.

And since no physical attacks work on it, only magicians could do it.

However, since humankind can still handle a portal of this caliber, it shouldn’t cause any severe damage before being cleared.

If it was like before in the past, I would’ve ran straight towards it.

A level 29 portal explosion would have massive rewards following it.

However, money was not of the importance to me at this moment.

And the area was far away from where I lived.

The chances of any damage reaching there was low.

“Hopefully they can take care of that stuff. Let’s go hunting!”

-click.

-beep.

* * * *

Hwaseong’s Jebudo Island beachfront.

Countless warp gates were formed.

Answering the call from the association, these were from magician classes.

Since using Warp Gate required you to visit the destination beforehand, many cars were being used for those that have not visited the area before.

Since the portal’s explosion was detected early on, the monsters have not crossed the waterline yet.

Awakened with levels reaching 100 showed themselves already.

Due to the massive reward?

No. If it was an Awakened with enough power to clear the dungeons of this area, it would be more beneficial to clear the dungeon rather than to show up for money they’d receive for responding to this event.

The reason why they still showed was due to their guild.

To clear the high level dungeons, or to get into stronger groups, one would join a guild.

The guild didn’t get involved in things directly most of the time, but they were still under control by the government and association.

It was a group made up of strong Awakened.

It was obvious that it needed oversight.

Guilds with 500 or more members were required to respond to national emergencies as requested with personnel.

Only the top 5% of the guild, the strongest they had to offer, were summoned.

The reason why they were set on a certain percentage was that the ranks of the guild determined how many members you could have.

500 members meant that it was a guild ranking in the middle ranges, rank 4.

Greater numbers weren’t always a plus.

Each of them were complaining.

“Wew. I thought things finally calmed down.”

“Yeah. And now a level 29 portal. This never happened before.”

“…. I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”

That only lasted a moment.

The horizon seemed to be filled with black fog.

A huge horde began to appear, taking up the entire horizon.

The sky grew dark due to how late it was.

To take them down only using moonlight would be difficult.

The military shot out star shells to light up sky.

The area became lit for a moment, and the Awakened who made their stand around the light house and the breakwater became much more nervous.

Towards landfall, monsters easily over the size of 5m were flying towards them.

In sync, they flapped their wings.

Over 500 in numbers, it was a terrifying sight.

One man amongst the group shouted out aloud.

Looking from behind the man, he seemed to emanate a powerful aura.

“You should not be afraid from just this!”