episode_0046

About 10 minutes after the battle with Pyodokju.

Currently, Meow and I were sitting on a hill, taking a short break.

“Meow…”

Groggily.

“Meow…”

Softly.

“Meow… Stop it!”

Tickling.

“Meow!! Stop! Stop!”

Meow, who was sitting on my lap receiving affection, wriggled out and escaped.

“Ah…”

It felt like I had lost everything in the world, not a joke.

I naturally lowered my head in despair.

Meow, who had been wandering around, came back.

“Meow? Are you okay?”

As expected of our Meow.

‘Weak-hearted.’

I didn’t miss the opportunity that had returned.

Pat!

“Meow!”

“Hehe…”

I sat her back on my knees and slowly stroked her head.

The warm body heat unique to the cat-like Miao clan warmed my whole body.

I sometimes feel it, but this moment is truly the best.

‘A healing time with my precious favorite character?’

Oh, I can’t stand it.

And so, we finished our short break of about 10 minutes.

Meow then spoke softly.

“Thank you, Seha. I’m really grateful.”

She pointed ahead with her finger.

What Meow was pointing at was the cold, lifeless body of Pyodokju who had died a while ago.

“Yeah, I knew everything in advance, but it was harder than I thought.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“…Even if I hadn’t been paralyzed, I could have protected you better.”

Meow’s cute and fluffy cat ears drooped.

Here she goes again.

Saying strange things.

No matter how much I tell her not to blame herself, it doesn’t seem to get better.

“What are you sorry for? You did well.”

“But still…”

“-Hey! Do you think you deserve praise today? We won the victory thanks to our Meow.”

It’s not just a word to make her feel good.

In fact, the opponent was difficult to beat in the first place.

Of course, many conditions favored us.

Pyodokju started the fight exhausted.

And she had the rune skill ‘Electric Mushroom.’

The from the rune skill caused paralysis instead of fainting.

‘…I was a little surprised by the use of [Blood Magic].’

[Blood Magic].

It’s a skill set commonly associated with curses related to blood manipulation.

It’s not easy to learn skills related to sorcery, but once you have them, they’re definitely worth it.

The main feature of [Blood Magic] is self-harm.

And temporary stat boosts obtained through self-harm.

Also, the power of special skills that can only be activated in the ‘bleeding’ state was so powerful that it couldn’t be ignored.

‘If I had been at full strength, it would have been difficult.’

The last [Blood Clot] was a long-range skill with power comparable to [Ryu Cham].

If Pyodokju had been in a better condition, I would have been pushed back and seriously injured.

It was a tough fight.

That’s why what we gained by overcoming the hardship was significant.

There were many factors, but the biggest one was the successful collaboration based on the rune of [Tojuwon].

Considering that [Tojuwon] is a B+ rare boss rune, it was not easy to see it as very good.

It has two passive skills, which alone make it worth it.

Most of the guild members’ opinions were that it was difficult to take it to the end because it requires 10 stacks.

‘The reason is that it’s slow because it requires 10 stacks.’

But after various experiments, I found out that the judgment of the stacking of the passive skill was generous.

The number of stacks increased even with minor attacks and actions.

‘Therefore, I experimented with having a party member with two [Tojuwon Runes].’

The result was a great success.

I increased the stacks as needed.

The skill applied by may not be comparable to an [Ultimate Skill], but it provided a powerful blow.

Of course, it wasn’t easy.

Timing could be off.

If unlucky, both parties could suffer significant damage from each other’s attacks.

This was still the reality even with ‘Gosla’ being a thing.

I lowered my gaze and looked at Myeong.

“Meow~”

Our Myeong.

The lovely girl let out a sigh of relief and nuzzled her face into my chest.

The reason we could succeed on our first try was because she believed in me.

And I believed in her as well.

It was possible because our hearts truly became one.

“Are you okay?”

A moment later, Myeong hopped up.

“Seha, is it still hard for you to get up?”

I nodded in agreement.

[Ryucham-强].

Also known as ‘Enhanced Ryucham,’ the mana consumption was absurd.

My inner self was empty, and I simply didn’t have the strength to move.

“I’ll put out a message on the emergency contact network. Hunters will come to help in less than an hour.”

“Got it. Do I need to be careful?”

“Don’t worry.”

With those words, Myeong disappeared.

Only then could I continue to check the information window that I hadn’t been looking at.

[The enlightenment of a duel that transcends life and death flows through the blade.]

[The sharpness of the blade strips away rust and begins to burn slowly.]

[Proficiency in greatly increases.]

[The level of increases.]

[Strength increases by 1 as a level reward.]

[In a duel that transcends life and death, your movements shine even brighter.]

[The level of increases.]

[Speed increases by 1 as a level reward.]

[Your reliance on your fists is engraved in a duel that transcends life and death.]

[Targeting the enemy’s vital points turns into a deadly blow.]

[The level of increases.]

[Endurance increases by 1 as a level reward.]

“Wow.”

An exclamation escaped involuntarily.

Indeed, there was no growth as intense as in real combat.

“My stats increased by 1 each across the board.”

Currently, my strength, speed, and endurance were each at 20, 17, and 17.

This made it practically a 100% guarantee that I could enter the .

In terms of main stats, it was a solid D-rank Hunter level.

“It’s good that my skills leveled up.”

, , and were all basic and fundamental skills.

Since leveling them up was always beneficial, their growth brought a satisfied smile to my face.

“Ryucham didn’t level up.”

There wasn’t any particular message.

Probably, to reach level 5 from level 4, more proficiency was needed.

“It was good to have learned .”

I wasn’t sure if I would use it as my main weapon.

Anyway, it was reassuring to have acquired the basic skills.

In reality, a mace was easier to handle than a sword.

If I could find a good weapon, I could try using them in combination.

“I wonder if Myeong has grown a lot too.”

She probably did.

Speculating, her levels in and might have increased by one.

In terms of stat increases, her endurance and speed probably went up by 1 each.

Alright, up to this point, everything is going well.

The problem lies in what comes next.

In a way, it could be considered the highly anticipated highlight.

The previous messages were just pleasant, but what was coming now was on a different level.

is activated.

temporarily exceeds its limits.

The heart of the owner ‘Mahana’ is directed towards the bound ‘Yuseha’. The effect is limited to only two people.

You can copy and bring one ability possessed by the target ‘Yuseha’. Only Normal or lower can be selected.

1. Mace 2. Home Run 3. Endurance 4. Blood Magic 5. Blood Shield 6. Low-grade Mind

“……”

I stayed silent for a short while.

Normally, I would have been ecstatic enough to shout for joy at the reward.

But knowing that it meant something unusual, I had no choice but to maintain my silence.

‘…What on earth is this?’

[Nekomata’s Luck].

A unique ability possessed by Mahana.

It first manifested in ‘Kappa Rhino’.

At that time, it forcibly raised the C-grade rune to C+.

So, I thought of this as a high-level ability that simply raised the quality of rewards.

But, it didn’t just end there…

‘It allows you to exceed the limits of skills?’

It was similar to the existing [Eye of the Reverse Heaven] but also quite different.

The existing one required a special condition called ‘comprehension’.

I couldn’t learn anything that was completely unrelated.

‘If Pseudokju was a magician, I wouldn’t have been able to copy anything.’

However, this time, enhanced by [Nekomata’s Luck], it was different.

It was just a matter of selecting and copying what you wanted.

Each acquired their own.

In essence, it meant selecting one skill and increasing it to two…

In every aspect, it was a step above.

Of course, maybe it was because of balance.

There were grade restrictions.

“……Hmm.”

I looked up the information on [Eye of the Reverse Heaven].

―――――――――――――――

◉Eye of the Reverse Heaven (Legendary)

…

…

◉Special Effects

* * *

: ??? (Unleashed when combined with a specific skill)

…

…

―――――――――――――――

“……”

Combining it with a specific skill.

Could it be that?

Was it referring to [Nekomata’s Luck]?

No.

The ‘true value’ I knew was definitely supposed to be combined with ‘that’…?

Various complicated thoughts swirled in my head.

With something so absurd suddenly appearing before me, it was dizzying.

How should I deal with this?

Various worries flooded my mind.

‘Let’s stop here.’

Thinking about it all day won’t lead to an answer.

However, one thing was certain.

‘I must keep it a secret at all costs.’

Just like [Eye of the Reverse Heaven], if [Nekomata’s Luck] were to be revealed, various factions would target us.

‘It seems like a complete Golden Goblin Party, doesn’t it?’

In addition to the outstanding classes of and , a duo with an unknown fraudulent unique ability?

“…Phew.”

First, it seemed like I needed to have a serious conversation with Meonyangi when she returned.

* * *

When Meonyangi returned shortly after, she explained various situations.

‘Ah, the guild knows about it too.’

They urgently arrested a suspicious employee.

Realizing that we were in danger, the rescue team was rushing over.

Thankfully, apart from the deceased Pseudokju, no one else knew about our information.

Since there were no traces anywhere, we could consider that we had avoided the worst-case scenario.

‘My information has spread to the other world…’

Oh, sh*t.

Just the thought of it gives me chills.

As the conversation came to an end, I immediately explained to Meonyangi.

She looked at me with a dumbfounded expression as if she couldn’t believe it.

“…Huh? Are you saying that I really have such an unbelievable skill?”

“Meonyang. Have you received any messages or anything like that?”

“…No, not at all? I haven’t received anything like that…”

Hmm, as expected.

“Meonyang. This is just my guess, but this skill is probably a [Parasitic Type].”

“…[Parasitic Type]?”

[Parasitic Type].

The wording is a bit strange.

Simply put, it’s a type that is activated on someone else’s behalf.

Usually, in these cases, the caster doesn’t receive any information, and they only find out when they form a party.

‘There were similar ones in Gossra.’

Perhaps Meonyangi was in a similar situation.

And it’s probably a skill that can’t be activated frequently.

The luck distribution system seems to be a rechargeable type, as the saying goes that luck distribution reaches zero.

“…Meow… Th-That…”

“Meow. People will be coming soon, so hurry up and choose. If it disappears after some time, you’ll regret it.”

“Meow! Okay!”

It didn’t take even a minute to decide which skill to choose.

Since I could only choose from the normal ones, half of the list was unusable.

A skill that would be helpful as soon as it was obtained and that both me and Meow didn’t already have.

‘There’s only one.’

[Selecting a skill.]

[The power of enduring patience that allows you to hold out longer! The path of endurance unfolds in your body and mind.]

[Acquire the trait.]

[As a reward for acquisition, your durability increases by 1.]

[Endurance].

It is said to be one of the most efficient traits among the normal ones.

Basic stamina, resistance to abnormal conditions, and character’s endurance in battles, among other things.

It is a trait that provides adjustments in various aspects related to stamina.

Since the efficiency increases as the level goes up, it was better to acquire it quickly.

“Meow… To obtain such a precious thing so easily…”

Meow wiggled her finger with a face that was half happy and half fearful.

As someone who had always lived hearing only the word ‘loser,’ the fact that she had such a strange power must have felt frightening to her.

“Don’t worry.”

“Meow?”

I gently stroked her head with my hand.

Feeling the ‘purring’ sound, I smiled warmly.

“These annoying brats. If we take care of them all, it’ll be over. Right?”

“…Okay!”

*

It was a time when we were waiting absentmindedly for the arrival of the rescue team.

Meow suddenly raised her hand with a surprised expression.

“Oh! I forgot.”

“Hmm?”

“If there are other party members, we can call them. It’s a concept of backup forces in case of emergency.”

“Hmm…”

Meow seemed to be saying, ‘But we don’t have anyone to call, so we should refuse,’ with a doubtful expression.

Indeed, it was meaningless to say we were a party when there were only two of us…-

‘-Wait a minute?’

Come to think of it, there was one person, right?

“Meow. Tell one more person to come and open the gate.”

“Meow? Wh-Who?”

I chuckled.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a pretty face like that.

A face like a real bun.

“There is.”

Someone as trustworthy as our Meow.