Chapter 43: Actually, It’s Good

Chapter 43

Two Hashids quickly flew towards the wall where Kim Jinsung was clinging.

“Perfect. Now I don’t need to climb the wall.”

As Kim Jinsung muttered to himself while watching the Hashids, one of them snapped its beak shut to bite him. But it failed. Just before being bitten, Kim Jinsung disappeared into the wall as if he had melted into it, causing the Hashid’s beak to strike the cliff uselessly.

“What? He disappeared again!”

“What on earth is going on?”

The watching participants were once again wide-eyed with astonishment. But Hwang Yuntaek, who knew Kim Jinsung’s abilities, was not surprised.

“He hid in the shadow again.”

Kim Jinsung must have been waiting for the Hashid to get close enough to use his skill on its shadow. He wasn’t creating a dangerous situation on purpose; he was waiting for the shadow to arrive.

“Once the Hashid flies to the opposite cliff, he’ll make it across.”

Hwang Yuntaek thought as he watched the Hashids still searching the cliff for Kim Jinsung. Eventually, the man-eating birds would give up and fly back into the sky, naturally moving their shadows to the opposite cliff.

“But I can’t just stand around watching this.”

Hwang Yuntaek turned around and saw that the flames had almost reached him. Time was running out.

“I can’t keep hiding my abilities; I’ll suffocate from the smoke before that.”

Reluctantly, Hwang Yuntaek raised his palms to the sky and gathered mana. Soon, a large ‘Mana Hawk’ appeared above his hands.

“A Mana Hawk…?”

“Was he the 1-1 defensive soldier?!”

Some participants recognized him and glared, but Hwang Yuntaek ignored them and sent the Mana Hawk flying down the cliff.

“They won’t start a fight in this desperate situation, right? We didn’t fight all day in the valley either…”

Thinking this, Hwang Yuntaek kept an eye on his surroundings while controlling the Mana Hawk, ready for any potential threats. Fortunately, none of the glaring participants made any moves, and their gazes soon shifted away.

**Thud!**

The sound of burning trees falling behind the cliff drew everyone’s attention. They looked anxious and uncertain.

“The wildfire is already so close!”

“What should we do? Should we jump into the valley?”

“Has the Mana Hawk found a new path yet?”

Some participants looked at Hwang Yuntaek with desperate eyes, hoping for any solution. Confirming that no one intended to attack, Hwang Yuntaek focused solely on controlling the Mana Hawk.

“Keep low to avoid the man-eating birds’ sight…”

The Mana Hawk flew quickly down the cliff, maintaining an altitude of about 50 meters. After about five minutes of reconnaissance, Hwang Yuntaek’s eyes widened.

“What?!”

He discovered a massive ancient tree about 40 meters down the cliff to the left, seemingly naturally grown.

“It’s huge!”

It was the largest tree Hwang Yuntaek had ever seen, with branches wide enough to reach both ends of the cliff.

“If we use those branches, we can cross.”

Hwang Yuntaek quickly controlled the Mana Hawk to inspect the cliff closely. Fortunately, there was a section with a gentler slope nearby. It looked navigable on foot with caution.

“Let’s go!”

He immediately stopped the Mana Hawk skill and started running to the left. Seeing this, some participants who recognized him reacted.

“Why is he suddenly running to the left?”

“He wouldn’t move like that unless he found something…”

“Did he find something with the Mana Hawk?”

Suspicious, they watched Hwang Yuntaek’s retreating figure.

“Let’s follow him!”

“Better than standing here doing nothing!”

Several participants began running after Hwang Yuntaek. As a few moved, the rest followed suit, driven by crowd psychology.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone going left?”

“Something must be there! Let’s go!”

Soon, all the remaining participants were running left after Hwang Yuntaek.

—

[Oh? The players are all running to the left! It looks like they’re following Player Hwang Yuntaek?]

[It seems they believe Hwang Yuntaek has found a path. Fortunately, they made the right decision.]

[Indeed! For players without special abilities like Yoon Aram or Kim Jinsung, using that ancient tree is the only way to cross the cliff!]

The caster commented as the TV showed the ancient tree Hwang Yuntaek had discovered. A female PD in the monitoring room spoke up.

“Wow, that tree is enormous! I’ve never seen such a big tree in my life.”

“Yeah, is it really naturally grown?”

The person who answered their curiosity was Baek Jun, sitting behind them.

“We transplanted that tree from the Celepo continent island where the finals will be held.”

“Oh!”

“It’s a new continent tree! No wonder…”

The staff in the monitoring room nodded in understanding. Given the unique ecosystem of the new continent, Celepo, it made sense that the plants could be even larger than this. After all, they say the smallest creature on the new continent is a human.

“Seeing that makes me even more excited for the finals.”

“Yeah, we’ve only planned it through 3D simulations; we’ve never actually set foot on the island… huh?”

As they chatted, the main PD’s eyes widened. On one of the many monitors, in the far corner, Kim Jinsung had appeared. Realizing the significance of his surroundings, the PD shouted urgently.

“Kim Jinsung has entered the secret passage! Quickly, switch to monitor 97!”

At the PD’s command, the TV screen began broadcasting the scene of Kim Jinsung in the secret passage. The caster, receiving instructions through his earpiece, relayed the information.

[Ah, yes. At this moment, we have news that Player Kim Jinsung has entered the secret passage!]

[Oh~! I was wondering who would discover the secret passage that the production team crafted so ambitiously, and it turns out to be Kim Jinsung.]

[Indeed! The secret passage, which has been a hot topic in every preliminary round! We will now guide you through it.]

—

“It’s a cave.”

At that moment, Kim Jinsung was looking around the secret passage. The cave was quite spacious, and its walls looked too clean to have formed naturally.

“Could this be the secret passage that they say is always present in the preliminaries?”

Recalling what he had seen on TV, Kim Jinsung couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.

“How else would there be an entrance in such a hard-to-find place?”

Kim Jinsung looked back at the entrance. The cave entrance, located almost 70 meters down the cliff, was covered in thick foliage, allowing little light to penetrate. Even if someone reached the vicinity, it would be hard to spot the entrance without careful observation.

“If I hadn’t been lucky, I wouldn’t have found it.”

He had discovered it by following the shadow of a Hashid flying around. Initially, he was annoyed that the Hashid didn’t fly straight up the cliff, but now he was grateful.

“At the end of the secret passage, there are always amazing items waiting…”

With a pounding heart, Kim Jinsung began to walk deeper into the cave. However, he soon had to stop.

“Wow… it’s full of plant monsters.”

All around the walls were numerous large, wriggling plants. It was clear they wouldn’t just let Kim Jinsung pass through the cave.

“Well, it wouldn’t be a secret passage without some challenges.”

They say patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. To obtain good items, some hardship is necessary to make the reward more satisfying.

“And I can earn points too.”

Drawing his sword and activating his Magi, Kim Jinsung charged at the nearest plant. As he approached, the vine-like plant, glowing green, opened its flower-like mouth and sprayed green powder. With a swift slicing sound, the thick stem of the plant monster was cleanly cut.

—

▶ You have defeated a monster.

▶ You have earned 30 points of Beast Karma.

▶ You can acquire the skill ‘Poison Powder’ from the defeated monster.

▷ Poison Powder: Sprays green poison powder on the opponent, causing a poisoning state. The poisoned opponent takes continuous damage until they are detoxified. Consumes 100 mana.

▶ Do you want to delete an existing skill to acquire ‘Poison Powder’?

—

“Yikes!”

Seeing the notification, Kim Jinsung quickly jumped back to avoid the green powder. But he was a bit too late.

—

▶ You are in a ‘Poisoned’ state.

▶ You will take continuous damage until detoxified.

—

“Damn!”

Kim Jinsung was frustrated. He thought he had dodged perfectly, but it seemed he hadn’t. He had no choice but to use his ‘Unstoppable Charge’ skill.

—

▶ You have used the ‘Unstoppable Charge’ skill.

▶ You are now immune to physical status conditions.

▶ The ‘Poisoned’ state has been cured.

—

“Since it has come to this, I need to defeat the other plant monsters within a minute.”

For Kim Jinsung, consuming 100 mana in this manner was still quite burdensome. He had tried to conserve his skills, but now that he had used one, he needed to make the most of the remaining minute.

Kim Jinsung charged at another nearby plant monster. As he approached, the grayish plant monster, blending with the surrounding rocks, extended its flower-like stem towards him. Gray powder sprayed from the flower. Kim Jinsung didn’t dodge this time and got covered in the powder as he swung his sword. Once again, his sword cleanly cut through the stem.

—

▶ You have defeated a monster.

▶ You have earned 30 points of Beast Karma.

▶ You can acquire the skill ‘Petrification Powder’ from the defeated monster.

▷ Petrification Powder: Sprays gray petrification powder on the opponent. The opponent’s actions slow by 10% every second, and after 10 seconds, they are completely petrified and unable to move for 30 seconds. Consumes 100 mana.

▶ You are immune to the ‘Petrified’ state due to your status condition immunity.

—

“This one sprays petrification powder.”

Kim Jinsung looked deeper into the cave. Up to about 50 meters within his sight, the cave was filled with these two types of plant monsters. There were roughly 30 visible plant monsters in total.

“Actually, this is good.”

This meant he could collect at least 1,000 points of Beast Karma, enough to unlock a new skill slot.

“If I play my cards right, I could acquire both the Poison Powder and Petrification Powder skills.”

If there were more plant monsters deeper in the cave than he could see now, he wouldn’t have to worry about deleting existing skills to acquire both status condition skills.

“Time to start hunting.”

Kim Jinsung scanned the plant monsters around him. Then he charged at the plant monsters before him. He was about to start ‘shut up and hunt,’ a term often used in RPG games, in real life.