200. A New Family Member
Kang Jihoe had gotten a taste of Aso’s Heaven-and-Earth Cleaving Slash.
That was where it all began.
“Wow... I filmed that Explosive Dragon Sorcerer doing a fire show, you know? I knew it was amazing, but ... seeing it right in front of my eyes, wow.”
Song Yeonhee marveled.
“That huge giant.... The moment it got even the slightest brush from the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer’s flames, it just melted away. It was insane, seriously.”
Just in case, she had even tried fighting one of the giants herself.
As expected, expected was expected.
It was unbelievably sturdy.
No wonder it was the kind of monster that belonged on the 40th floor of the Tower of Trials.
But then?
If the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer burned it thoroughly, it just disappeared.
It was truly overwhelming firepower!
“Skill, True Devour. This is seriously broken.”
“Seriously. Just how many stacks has it built up?”
“...Probably an insane amount? It seems like she runs dungeons regularly.”
“Why don’t I have a broken skill like this!”
Of course, the guild members knew.
Even if Baek Jinwoo did not use EX-grade and fought them only with ordinary summons, he would still overwhelm them through control alone.
Still, envy was envy.
A skill that made you permanently stronger!
“The HunGyo, Lamba, Jaggeo, Dampir combination is also incredible.”
“That one’s just the standard powerhouse combo. Isn’t that a lineup that can’t lose no matter where it goes?”
“Jaggeo and Dampir are insanely tanky. Once enough of the stacks from cream-bun-fed Lamba start going into HunGyo, dungeons become ridiculously easy, you know?”
“Of course, he doesn’t let us clear them easily, though...”
The drawback of any team that included HunGyo!
HunGyo trained them inside the dungeon.
He pushed them around just enough that they would never die.
And when it became absolutely impossible for them to break through with their own strength, he would help just a tiny bit at a time.
“I want Explosive Dragon Sorcerer too.......”
“Or Aso!”
“HunGyo is too hard!”
Because of that, the popularity of Explosive Dragon Sorcerer and Aso skyrocketed.
Especially Aso.
“Aso is seriously broken. No matter what the giant does, it can’t land a hit. Wind Dance and Heaven-and-Earth Cleaving Slash are broken too, but ... even the Heaven-Breaking Divine Art she uses once in a while is insane.”
Every time they came out, the guild members trembled all over and kept showering the summons with praise.
Baek Jinwoo nodded.
Yeah.
Of course.
Who do they think raised them?
On the other hand, the more the guild members used them, the more they went beyond awe and started getting chills.
‘No matter how I look at this, this isn’t just broken.’
‘EX-grade... is seriously crazy. I mean, even S-grade is on a completely different level, so X-grade...’
‘If even one of them snapped, wouldn’t that be the apocalypse? They seem scarier than nukes.’
In reality, it would be exactly like that.
If Explosive Dragon Sorcerer got enraged and kept slamming Explosive Dragon Art: Ruination into Earth?
Wouldn’t the oceans evaporate and the whole world turn into a flaming hell?
All the summons touched by those flames would melt away, and the stacks would build even more from that.
And then?
If Aso kept using Heaven-and-Earth Cleaving Slash on Earth?
It might literally split the heavens and the earth apart.
‘Thank goodness they’re all nice kids.’
‘I’m glad the Guild Master’s personality isn’t twisted.’
‘He really does carry disaster wherever he goes.’
Anyway.
With Baek Jinwoo’s help, the SKY guild members also kept clearing the Tower of Trials with ease.
To begin with, it was Explosive Dragon Sorcerer who had put Asmodeus, the boss of the 60th floor that was about ten times harder than the original Tower of Trials, to sleep in a single hit.
A 50th-floor boss?
Fwoosh!
The current Explosive Dragon Sorcerer could melt it with a tiny spark!
And so, while they were clearing them one by one—
“G-Guild Master!”
Slide!
Someone opened the door and came out bouncing excitedly.
“Guild Masteeeeeeeer!”
It was Song Yeonhee.
“What is it?”
Baek Jinwoo was flustered.
Why?
What happened?!
Pat pat pat pat!
In her excitement, she ran toward Baek Jinwoo and threw herself into his arms.
And then—
“I got it! I got iiiiiit!”
She roared toward the sky in joy....
Wait a second, this.
This feels kind of like déjà vu....
Didn’t this happen before too?
“Don’t tell me, you.”
“Yes, that’s right! The Guaranteed Summoning Scroll! I pulled it! Just like last time! And it’s A-grade too!”
Holy shit!
Baek Jinwoo’s pupils instantly widened.
The summoning scroll Baek Jinwoo needed most at this moment!
Ah.
Song Yeonhee really was the lucky charm of their guild.
No, why was her luck this good?
This won’t do.
The next S-grade summon that appears should belong to Song Yeonhee unless something extraordinary happens.
All the guild members knew.
[Guaranteed Summoning Scroll]
[Grade: A-grade]
[You can guaranteedly draw the A-grade summon you want.]
They all knew that Baek Jinwoo wanted this dazzling summoning scroll.
Just look at him.
Wasn’t the corner of his mouth already hanging up to his ears?
“Kya.”
“Song Yeonhee, well done!”
“You’re always the one who makes Guild Master smile!”
“How do you keep pulling stuff like this.... Just how lucky are you?”
“Damn it, I was going to pull that....”
Some congratulated her, and others felt regret.
Baek Jinwoo had promised to give the S-grade summon drawn from the World League to a guild member, but Song Yeonhee had brought him something like this....
Now there was justification, justification!
“For now.”
Baek Jinwoo took the item from Song Yeonhee and nodded.
“Everyone, go finish up to the 50th floor. I’ll open this after that.”
Now.
It was time to prepare to welcome a new family member.
Magic Cat.
Its setting was that it was a pet cat raised among the world’s worst witches.
When people say that even a village school dog recites poetry after three years, that village school dog was exactly Magic Cat.
That was why.
This one used magic too.
And unbelievably well at that.
It even had infinite mana.
The setting was that the witches had modified it as an experimental subject, allowing it to draw endlessly on the energy that existed in nature!
If HunGyo trained it properly, wouldn’t it be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Rachel’s Archmage?
No, even more than that.
The Archmage had penalties, but this one did not.
That was why it had been patched.
“Hoo.”
At last, he would get to see it.
Our Magic Cat.
* * *
About three days passed.
And then.
Every member of the SKY guild.
Finished clearing the 50th floor of the Tower of Trials!
Everyone joined the suicide squad without issue. At this point, it would have been stranger if they could not.
A staff member stationed at headquarters asked,
“Um, Mr. Baek Jinwoo.”
“Yes.”
“By any chance, would you like to set the clear notification to private?”
“You’re asking if it’s okay to publish it as an article, right?”
“That is correct. The media keeps contacting headquarters.”
“Well, I don’t mind.”
There was no longer any need to hide it.
It did not matter even if ants underground found out.
Who was going to stop Explosive Dragon Sorcerer and Aso now?!
“Go ahead and spread the word far and wide that our Republic of Korea has fourteen members of the suicide squad ready too.”
“Th-thank you!”
The currently revealed suicide squad roster was twenty-seven people.
United States, 10.
Japan, 9.
United Kingdom, 8.
Now add South Korea’s 14 to that.
A total of 41.
As for the remaining nine spots?
They could come, or not come, either way was fine.
Still, it would probably be difficult for a while, wouldn’t it?
If someone cleared the 50th floor through their own strength without help?
That would prove their genius in its own way, so he had every intention of helping them.
Talent was precious regardless of nationality.
“All right then, now we draw.”
Swoosh.
Baek Jinwoo took out the summoning scroll.
“Ooh, so the Magic Cat we’ve only heard about is finally coming out?”
“Is Magic Cat EX-grade too?”
“It was originally A-grade, but now it’ll probably come out as EX-grade.”
“Kya.”
“What kind of broken summon will it be this time?”
The guild members were actually even more excited.
Though they knew everything about Baek Jinwoo’s situation, they could never reveal it to the outside world.
Because of the contract.
Riiip!
When he boldly tore the summoning scroll, an effect appeared in the same pattern as the previous Guaranteed Summoning Scroll.
[Using ‘Guaranteed Summoning Scroll (A-grade)’!]
[Player ‘Baek Jinwoo’ is selecting a summon!]
Shrrr!
Countless summon illustrations made of cards spread out before his eyes, and Baek Jinwoo closed his eyes and engraved one summon into his mind.
[‘Magic Cat’ (EX-grade)]
Kya.
This is it.
Come out already, our schoolhouse cat!
Without hesitation, Baek Jinwoo grabbed the card.
[Player ‘Baek Jinwoo’ has obtained summon ‘Magic Cat’ (EX-grade)!]
— Myao?
From within a pure white light, a tiny cat walked out.
“Kyaah!”
“What is that fluffball?!”
“It’s way too cute!”
“That’s... a summon?”
However.
Strangely enough, the cat walked on two legs.
And it was also wearing a witch’s hat.
It even had a staff....
— Nice to meet you-nyang!
“Gah!”
“A-a talking cat?”
Even Baek Jinwoo was startled.
So Magic Cat talked too.
Since it was not a human like Jaggeo or Gale Slayer, he thought it would not be able to speak.
Was it because it was a catfolk?
— Talking? That’s basic-nyang! Hmm? There it is-nyang! Nice to meet you! You’re God Ji-nu, right, Master?
“Yeah, not God Ji-nu anymore. Just Jinwoo now.”
— That’s fine! I can just call you Master-meow!
This.
It was a little hard to get used to.
Still, he had to check the status window, right?
[Summon: Magic Cat]
[Race: Catfolk]
[Grade: EX-grade (Isolated)]
Isolated due to a balance-breaking element being discovered under certain circumstances.
[Level: 1]
[Owned Stats]
Strength: 1, Intelligence: 1, Stamina: 1, Agility: 1
HP: 1,000, MP: ∞
Critical Hit Rate: 20%
Critical Hit Damage: 20%
[Owned Skills]
- Infinite Mana: Continuously draws in natural mana.
- Thousand Years of Magic: A cat raised alongside witches for a thousand years uses a witch’s magic according to the situation.
‘Kuh.’
No matter when he saw it, the infinite MP display was astonishing.
In Magic Cat’s case, it had been patched even before its latent abilities were unlocked.
So there was no telling what kind of abilities would be unlocked, and that meant?
That it was already broken even before being unlocked.
— Magic Cat! Cute!
— Magic Cat! Is blood tasty?
Aso and Dampir came bouncing over and hugged Magic Cat.
— Uwah! What is this-meow!
Magic Cat cried out in shock, but there was nothing that could be done.
Aso’s grip strength surpassed imagination.
She smiled.
— Don’t worry. Dampir draws out bad blood.
— G-go away! How dare some vampire thing come near a witch!
Hey.
You are not a witch, though....
You are a cat raised by witches.
— Hmm.
HunGyo also looked at Magic Cat as he stroked his chin.
— Its latent abilities are clearly visible, my lord.
“Really?”
— Yes, if it is unlocked, I believe its magic cooldowns will be reduced significantly. It is a perfect match with the infinite mana skill.
“O-oh.”
With infinite mana, it could pour out magic without cooldown? Then it would be even more broken than it was now.
— Besides, look over there.
“Hm?”
— Doesn’t Dampir like Magic Cat an awful lot? Why do you think that is?
Huh?
Ah!
Baek Jinwoo clapped his hands.
In fact, Dampir and Magic Cat had never met together before.
Because Dampir and Jaggeo had been patched, and then Magic Cat was the one he drew afterward.
So he had never thought of using the two together.
— That’s right. Dampir’s skill suits Magic Cat far better than Jaggeo.
Dampir’s skill.
Drain: Uses another’s MP as the source to recover both the target and oneself.
Drain could be stuck into Jaggeo, but if it were stuck into Magic Cat, it became even worse.
Because Magic Cat had infinite MP!
It could become a complete zombie.
‘Kya.’
A tank that could pour out infinite magic....
At this point, really, nobody could stop it anymore, could they?
Okay.
For the time being, he would focus on raising only Magic Cat.
He had to prepare runes too, and level it up.
* * *
There was one month left until the World League.
Because of Hong Ari’s pride in wanting to prove their power this time without Baek Jinwoo, all the guild members went into special training.
And then.
— Master!
Rund walked into the rear training ground.
— At last! The Luxury Crafting skill level has entered level 4.
“Oh, really?”
Already?
Were they all working too hard or what?
Why was their rate of growth so fast?
— It’s all thanks to you, Master! I did nothing but swing the hammer without resting for even a moment. I also made sample items one by one and brought them, so feel free to look at them.
“Let’s see.”
This was Baek Jinwoo’s first time reaching level 4 too.
That was why from here onward, he had to carefully examine the rune states to see whether there were summons he could apply them to.
[This is the list of luxury items you can craft.]
[Sprint (Rare), Crush (Rare), Bind (Rare), Heavenly Punishment (Rare), Soul Destruction (Unique)]
Ooh, as expected.
They were all runes he had never seen before.
From the looks of it, the materials were absurd.
And.
“So now you can use the essence of light and darkness?”
— That’s right, Master! I can use all the stockpile you’ve been piling up and make them freely.
“Kya.”
Nice.
The essences Baek Jinwoo had gathered so far?
Essence of Darkness: 2,580
Essence of Light: 2,565
As expected.
It had been a good thing he had saved them instead of selling them.
He did not know how high the level of that Luxury Crafting skill would go, but he should keep saving them from now on too.
‘Hmm, first, Sprint.’
He picked up the rune Rund had brought.
[Rune]
[Grade: Top-grade (Rare)]
Limited to 100 runes worldwide.
[Set Effect: Sprint]
-When 6 are equipped, movement speed increases by 300%.
-If flying, movement speed increases by an additional 200%.
[Level: 1]
[Stat Increase]
-Intelligence +12%, Intelligence +30, Agility +12%, Agility +30
Oh.
He could tell at a glance whose this was for.
‘It’s for Celestial Wyvern.’
An additional 500% movement speed increase while flying....
It was really going to become ridiculously fast, wasn’t it?
“For now, make several Sprint ones. I’ll give each guild member a set as a gift.”
— Understood, Master!
Celestial Wyvern was now the standard public summon for riding.
Players all over the world used it.
That was why the price had risen tremendously too.
‘And Crush.’
Crush was clearly a rune for pure burst damage.
It came with the penalty of reducing maximum HP by half, but increased damage fivefold.
‘Uh, wait a second, this.’
This would suit our Magic Cat, wouldn’t it?
Magic Cat was practically invincible anyway if Dampir stuck Drain into it.
Baek Jinwoo kept examining the status window.
Bind was a rune that maximized the efficiency of crowd-control summons, and Heavenly Punishment was a rune that added bonus lightning-attribute damage.
“In Song Yeonhee’s case, Heavenly Punishment would suit her.”
— Shall I make one set?
“Yeah, give it to her as a gift.”
Song Yeonhee’s dolls.
Flame Lightning (B-grade), Water Lightning (B-grade), Wood Lightning (B-grade), Metal Lightning (B-grade), Earth Lightning (B-grade). If combined, they inflicted lightning attribute damage.
If he put it on just one of those dolls, it would probably have quite a good effect.
‘And the last one.’
The long-awaited Unique!
[Rune]
[Grade: Top-grade (Unique)]
Limited to 10 runes worldwide.
[Set Effect: Soul Destruction]
-When 6 are equipped, HP decreases by 50%, skill damage increases by 1,000%.
-2 additional stat options
[Level: Max]
[Stat Increase]
Strength +12%, Intelligence +12%, Stamina +12%, Agility +12%, Critical Hit Rate +10%, Critical Hit Damage +20%
“Oh.”
Nice.
It looked like a superior version of the Crush rune, and as expected, the materials were like that too.
If you took three Crush runes and combined them, a Soul Destruction rune was born.
In other words?
This was Magic Cat’s endgame rune!
Jackpot.
“Rund.”
— Do you like it?
“Yeah, let’s make one full set of these Soul Destruction runes first as top priority.”
— Understood.
“There are enough materials, right?”
— I’ll check the materials for Crush runes, and if anything is lacking, I’ll bill Baek Ajin.
“Good, good.”
Rund now belonged to 「Rune Eclat」 too.
The one he communicated with most was Baek Ajin.
‘Then.’
Once I equip the runes, should I go run a dungeon?
No comments yet. Be the first to leave a review!