episode_0009

Seonghyun immediately ran towards the enemy whenever they appeared in his sight.

“It’s a coin!”

Seonghyun had already become familiar with the taste of coins.

When was the first time he had tasted the coin?

There were already signs.

“Ah… I can move at this speed?”

It was when he first raised the levels of his stamina and mana.

Seonghyun was becoming addicted to the feeling of his body getting stronger in real-time.

It was like a drug.

Seonghyun didn’t have any second thoughts, though.

This growth rate couldn’t continue indefinitely.

The average coins given per mana beast were 4 to 50.

He had already devoured 20 coins per level up.

To reach level 30, he needed a total of 400 coins, including mana and stamina.

Roughly, he had to hunt about 10 mana beasts.

With this doubling, it became 20 beasts. 40 beasts. 80 beasts. 160 beasts.

It was endless.

Of course, as he grew stronger, the coins given would increase as well.

Seonghyun actually thought it was good.

“If I become stronger, I can fight stronger enemies.”

Through tigers, rabbits, wolves, and monkeys, Seonghyun realized.

“I like fighting.”

The dopamine and endorphins from fighting drove Seonghyun.

That feeling of his head getting hot. That feeling drove Seonghyun crazy.

If there hadn’t been disposable resting spaces.

Seonghyun would have become a lunatic who enjoyed only killing.

“Oh, soy sauce marinated crab was delicious.”

A lunatic who enjoyed killing.

Became a lunatic who enjoyed soy sauce marinated crab.

This difference was quite symbolic.

Purposeful killing was a hundred times better than killing for aimless pleasure.

Anyway.

Seonghyun didn’t see the mana beasts he had seen yesterday in the forest.

He didn’t see any enemies stronger than Seonghyun.

Just wolves or slightly different levels.

“I guess I wasn’t just imagining things last night.”

As a result of wildly swinging his sword in the forest.

Seonghyun’s account already had 700 coins piled up.

After deducting 50 coins for the resting space.

He could use 650 coins.

“650 coins?”

For now, through hunting, Seonghyun’s body had risen to level 21, and mana had risen to level 22.

Was mana leveling up faster due to reliance on senses?

Recently, Seonghyun felt the need for a weapon while slaughtering mana beasts.

He immediately purchased a one-handed sword he had seen before.

– Angel’s One-Handed Sword [D]: A sturdy sword that has risen to D-grade with just one strength, it doesn’t break easily in most situations. – Would you like to purchase it for 200 coins?

“Yes.”

Ziiing-.

A one-handed sword appeared in front of Seonghyun.

Thud!

The sword fell straight to the ground.

Due to the sharpness of the sword, it easily dug into the earth.

Shwook-.

Seonghyun immediately drew the sword to check its condition.

The blade, faintly shining black, was intricately crafted.

The edges of the blade were sharp, and there was a simple pattern in the center that seemed to ripple like water.

Clack!

The handle Seonghyun grabbed was wrapped in dark leather, providing a comfortable grip while accurately conveying its weight.

As soon as he held the sword, Seonghyun knew.

The teeth he had been using until now were trash.

Seonghyun immediately threw the teeth on the ground.

Thud! Thud!

The teeth fell unceremoniously to the ground.

But Seonghyun didn’t spare a glance at the trash.

Swish! Swish!

He just wielded the sword.

Listening to the sound of the sword cutting through the air.

Seonghyun exclaimed.

“Ah! This is a sword!”

Pweong!

Seonghyun kicked the teeth even further away.

“Alright. Let’s go straight into action.”

For now, he decided to try without using coins on his stats.

Seonghyun approached the creature that seemed the strongest among those visible.

– Rock Bear (90C)

Among the creatures he had faced so far, it was the one that resembled a tiger the most.

The lad surrounded by solid rock.

When I first saw him, I thought he couldn’t be caught with teeth.

But.

If this sword is here.

The tactics change. Surely that lad will be defeated by the new sword.

Seonghyun thought so.

As expected.

Chyaeng-

Rushing towards the rock bear to take the initiative.

With Seonghyun’s attack, bits of the rock on the rock bear were gradually chipped away.

“Hahaha! This is gear envy! What? You say you don’t have gear because you’re a loser? The words of a gearless loser don’t matter?”

Seonghyun seemed excited. He became talkative.

But. Since he entered the battle.

He needed to calm down.

Seonghyun took a deep breath.

“Huuuuup!”

And exhaled.

“Haaaaa.”

Seonghyun’s demeanor changed.

It was not the slightly twisted eyes from before.

It was calm, composed eyes.

Eyes that automatically come out when Seonghyun enters a fight.

Those eyes made the bear serious.

The bear remembered when the human’s attack cut through its rock.

The body that was thought to be invincible.

Today, it is not invincible.

To dispel fear, the bear roared.

“Roooar!”

But. Seonghyun knew.

The fact that animals roar when they are scared.

That’s why, he raised the corners of his mouth and licked his lips.

Like he did to the wolf he saw once.

“You. Are you scared of me?”

Animals can instinctively tell if their opponent is a predator or prey.

The Seonghyun in front of them was a predator.

A predator that should not be in this area.

The rock bear in front of Seonghyun was the strongest predator in the Forest of Beginnings.

That’s why. The rock bear was confused.

Why. Wasn’t someone this strong unable to cross the original territory?

The bear’s words were half right and half wrong.

Seonghyun was originally as weak as he should be in this forest, but he had become stronger.

That’s why.

The rock bear could not withstand Seonghyun’s sword.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

At first, it was the arm that tried to block the sword.

The arm covered in rock was cut by Seonghyun’s attack.

The problem was not just the sword.

When Seonghyun’s Taeguk and sword combined, an unbelievable synergy began to emerge.

The Taeguk that embraces everything.

Deflecting the opponent’s attacks, Seonghyun’s attacks succeeded.

Always. It was always like that.

Not only that.

When the rock bear attacked Seonghyun.

Seonghyun seemed to already know.

He was already out of the way.

No matter how much he attacked. It was a repetition of that situation.

It was insane.

“Hahaha.”

The bear was so creeped out by Seonghyun’s laughter.

It sounded like the voice of the messenger who brought him.

And that messenger sentenced him to death.

“Now, let’s finish this, bear.”

Seonghyun sentenced the bear to death.

The bear showed its teeth to resist until the end.

Seonghyun was satisfied with that sight.

“Indeed, the predators in this area don’t give up easily, which is good, right?”

Seonghyun’s sword and the bear’s teeth clashed.

Seonghyun’s sword slipped through the bear’s teeth like a stream.

As a result.

Swoosh.

The bear’s mouth was cut. Its head split into two.

Above the mouth. And below the mouth.

Thud.

The giant body of the rock bear fell to the ground.

Not just the rock bear’s mouth, the lad whose whole body was made of rock did not bleed.

“Fascinating.”

Seonghyun looked around, rolling the head of the rock bear.

Even the eyes that used to shine had lost their light and turned into stones.

As if they were always rocks. There was no evidence of them being alive.

“It seems like there are no more interesting lads in this forest.”

Seonghyun decided to move on to the next area.

To the place where he had escaped.

Seonghyun took another step.

-Kim Seonghyun (38) Male

Trait: Investment [EX] (LV. 1, (0%))

Physical: 21 (67%)

Mana: 22 (45%)

Skills: Coin Market [EX] (LV. 1, (72%)), Fire [F] (LV. 5(32%))

Account Balance: 500C

Natsuhme, who had lost consciousness, got on a carriage.

He regained consciousness in a meadow of unknown identity.

“Where am I?”

As he groggily got up, the coachman in front of him exclaimed in surprise.

“Oh my! Who are you? When did you get here?”

Natsuhme was about to speak rudely but then realized his situation.

The words of the knight commander came to mind.

-Get rid of him.

Natsuhme lightly bit his lower lip. The voice of the knight commander pierced his heart.

He couldn’t continue living like this. There was no need for it.

He was no longer Natsuhme. Thinking so, he decided to be reborn.

Natsuhme introduced himself to the coachman as his newly born self.

“I am… Nato… Could you perhaps tell me where this carriage is heading? I woke up here without knowing how I got here.”

It had to be Nato that came to mind.

Not only that, if someone saw Natsuhme’s current self, they would probably be shocked.

Natsuhme using formal language?

However, Natsuhme was not a fool who would blurt out informal language in such a situation.

Did that attitude please the coachman?

The coachman kindly replied.

“You seem to have come from the royal palace. Since then, we haven’t stopped, you see.”

As he said, Natsuhme had indeed come from the kingdom.

Natsuhme wondered if the coachman in front of him knew that he had been summoned with the hero. He pondered but doubted it.

It couldn’t be. The other party was just an ordinary coachman.

“Anyway, young man. We are heading to the Water Kingdom now. Have you ever been to the Water Kingdom?”

The Water Kingdom.

Just hearing about it made Natsuhme think of a country with cat ears.

Natsuhme, or rather Nato, shifted in his seat.

As the coachman vacated his seat, Nato took his place.

“No, I haven’t been there. Could you tell me about it…?”

“Ah, I see. I’ll tell you then. It’s nice to have a companion to talk to. Let’s see, about the Water Kingdom…”

And so, Nato set off towards the distant Water Kingdom, leaving the kingdom behind.

This event was a significant turning point in Nato’s life, one that would never happen again.