episode_0021

I am a veteran.

So, that means you’ve been in the military.

And the unit I was in was a very poor building nestled in a mountain valley.

I didn’t know, I never thought the place I ended up in after spinning my wheels would be such a fucking place…

It was then that I realized.

All the bug stories coming out of the military are true.

There are countless money bugs and raccoons crawling around in the guard post, hundreds of millions of flies in the trash can, and a moth the size of a person’s fist called Tinkerbell…

That’s what it is. Surprisingly, the place I worked was a crazy place that had all three of those things. It was literally a living hell, especially in the summer.

Thanks to this, I was able to build up some immunity against bugs.

And I thought I would never experience anything worse than that in the future.

I thought so···.

Aaaa!

match!

I wake up to the sound of flapping wings in my ears.

I tried to slap my palm as fast as I could, but it only hit my cheek. A bug can outrun a warrior… In fact, aren’t these guys stronger than the Four Heavenly Kings?

I muttered quietly with a half-asleep face.

“Nimi···.”

What kind of bug was it this time? A simple insect? Or a fly?

Moths, bees, mosquitoes, two-winged insects, winged beetles, ladybugs, etc.

All sorts of possibilities come and go in my head.

Actually, this wasn’t important at all.

The thing is, f*ck, I’ve already broken it 6 times now because of those bugs.

I really want to burn it all down, but I know that doing so will only draw aggro, so I have no choice but to hold back.

Still, maybe because I was tired, I managed to fall asleep.

“Warrior, rise up, warrior.”

But Camilla woke me up an hour or so later because of the night watch.

“Ugh···.”

I somehow managed to get up from my seat, dragging my heavy body.

I felt like I could fall asleep right away if I closed my eyes, but I had to force myself to stay awake.

Now I’m destined to be stuck in one spot for two hours, keeping watch over my surroundings.

‘I never thought I’d do this again…’

I thought I would never have anything like that again after I came back from the military.

After all, no one knows what will happen in a person’s life. Who would have known? That I would fall into this world and become a warrior.

“Don’t talk nonsense and keep it well.”

“Yay, yay.”

I nodded vaguely and sat down on a nearby rock.

Camilla glanced at me and then went into the tent.

He didn’t forget to turn on the protective spell that Lily had placed nearby.

This protective magic had two purposes.

One was to keep the bugs out, and the other was to keep me out.

I think it would be unsettling to just leave me alone and go to sleep···.

It was a really unpleasant treatment, but still, after it was installed, no one ever had trouble sleeping.

In the past, there were many cases where we couldn’t sleep together just to keep an eye on one stupid thing.

Let’s think of it as a good thing.

With that in mind, I decided to find something to kill time this time. Anyone who has ever stood guard at dawn knows that this really makes time fly by.

We have to do something, even if it’s just to kill time.

Fortunately, I had something to think about right away.

‘Status window.’

As I speak, a translucent window begins to flicker before my eyes.

———-

Name: Luke

Lv: 74

[Skill]

Power of Sacrifice Lv. MAX, Magic Control Lv. 1, Mana Blade Lv. 4, Heavenly Martial Arts Body (天武肢體) Lv. MAX, Noble Sacrifice Lv. MAX, Bright Ryu Swordsmanship Lv. 3, Regeneration (Replica.ver) Lv MAX, Battle Focus Lv. 1······

———-

To be honest, not much has changed since last time.

The level remains the same, just a few skills have been leveled up or added.

“Hmm···.”

I looked at it and thought for a moment.

‘I guess I should start deciding on a class soon.’

Even though I’ve entered the castle of the Four Heavenly Kings, I still haven’t decided on a proper direction. At the very least, it’s very late.

It’s really time to decide on a career tree.

First of all, if you look at the skills up to now, most of them are focused on inspection.

Considering his combat focus, regeneration, and Bright Ryu swordsmanship, he’d definitely be a pretty good swordsman.

But just being great isn’t enough.

‘Something is missing.’

The Inspector was certainly a good job, but it wasn’t enough to clear the game. What’s more, the difficulty level had increased significantly this time.

In addition to inspection, something extra is needed.

A plus alpha that can work for anyone.

There were many things that came to mind.

You can follow the saint and learn the magic to become a paladin, or you can learn additional defensive magic to become an invincible tank.

Or, you could go to a wizard and become a magician or magic spearman.

Whatever it was, all of them had jobs that required facing the Demon King.

It’s quite possible.

But, nevertheless.

There was one thing on my mind.

‘Quest.’

This time, I mentally called up another window instead of the status window. In fact, there was a quest I had received last night.

A quest that provides a clear goal, as if guiding my journey.

[QUEST!]

+

You have entered the castle of King Chung, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

That means that King Chung will be punished soon.

To support your future, I’d like to prepare a small gift.

The answer is out there.

Catch the king.

Quest Reward: Insect Technique

+

When I first saw this, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

It’s just a matter of catching Chungwang. I thought it was going to happen since that’s what I was trying to catch in the first place.

However, the quest reward doesn’t make sense.

“Chungsul, huh?”

I didn’t know that the Four Heavenly Kings’ skills would be spread like this.

I guess the Minotaur era wasn’t the last. It seems like we’re getting something that’s pretty close to the original, since it wasn’t even specifically mentioned as a replica.

It’s okay up to here.

No, on the contrary, it’s really good.

No matter what anyone says, Chungsul is a fraudulent skill, and it was the Balkan guy’s main skill.

I’m not confident that I can handle it as well as that guy, but it will definitely be helpful in future battles.

But there was one very small and minor problem.

“This is black magic···.”

Black magic.

The kind of magic that most people in this world hate.

A discipline that is like a chaotic collection of all kinds of strange, bizarre, and destructive magic.

In particular, our party members went beyond disliking it to outright detesting it. In fact, that was the reason I didn’t choose it when I was choosing my skills.

But the system is trying to give this to me now… It’s an awkward situation in many ways.

However, the performance was too good to refuse, so I couldn’t give it up.

In short, it has become a skill that is like a yoke.

‘I wonder if I can hide it.’

I don’t know.

I still had a lot to do. I had to level up, check on the heroines’ stats, and find the hidden pieces in Chunghoe Castle.

In the end, I had no choice but to postpone choosing a career this time too.

“Sir, lie down and sleep now. It’s shift change time.”

“Uh, huh?”

While I was worrying, planning, and being on guard like that, work hours were already over.

Knock knock.

The saintess taps my shoulder with slightly sleepy eyes.

I looked at my watch for a moment.

3:50 a.m.

“There’s still about 10 minutes left until shift change?”

“Really? I must have looked at my watch wrong. Since I’m here, I’ll just stop by. Go in and rest quickly.”

“···If that’s the case.”

I didn’t refuse and went inside.

I’m tired, you know. I’m going to fall asleep.

It seemed like I could fall into a deep sleep as soon as I lay down now.

So I lay down in my sleeping bag and fell into a deep sleep······.

···.

.

Aaaa …

“Oh my god, seriously!”

But I woke up again in the middle.

*

The next day dawned.

Everyone in the group had tired faces, as if they hadn’t slept well. Their hair was disheveled and there were dark circles around their eyes.

Like me, they must have woken up dozens of times, their faces filled with small and big annoyances.

Of course, I didn’t show it out loud.

We fought the monsters in the same condition as yesterday.

Mucus covered my entire body, and then insect corpses stuck to the mucus. The saintess used purification magic to get rid of it, but I couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

The second day passed like that.

*

Third day.

Fuck, you fucking bugs. I couldn’t sleep again.

The sound of small wings flapping in my ears now seemed like it was becoming a neurosis.

“I guess I should at least install a mosquito net···.”

Lily muttered in a tired voice.

I nodded enthusiastically to her words. Something needs to be done.

We caught a monster that day too, and the saint purified it.

It passed like that.

*

Fourth.

The installation of the mosquito net has been completed.

Not my tent, just their tent···.

After all, it seems impossible to make a mosquito net by yourself in one night.

Everything from procurement of materials to production is a problem.

It’s not like they’ll help, though.

Because of that, I had no choice but to sleep mixed in with the flies that day too···.

*

five.

As we were making a mosquito net, the saint came to help.

And then they started to share the know-how they had developed yesterday.

Yes, there was a steel silkworm cocoon here. I guess they wove it together. Thanks to that, I was barely able to make a mosquito net that day.

So you fight the monster and the saint purifies you.

I was able to sleep quite comfortably that day.

*

six.

[Battle Focus level increased!]

[Congratulations!]

[You’ve gained the ability to multitask!]

Good news after a long time!

Skill level up and new skills acquired.

Maybe it was because I was always fighting monsters that were attacking me from all sides, but it seemed like I had obtained something related to it.

Multitasking has broadened my horizons.

It allows you to focus on one enemy while dealing with another, meaning it’s a specialized ability for one-on-many combat.

Thanks to this, I was able to slaughter monsters more easily.

*

seven.

[Congratulations!]

[Level up!]

[The soul level goes up one level!]

at las!

Level up!

Damn, my level has finally gone up even though I killed the Minotaur!

“It’s really dirty and doesn’t go up.”

Anyway, I’m 75 now. To be honest, I don’t feel much of a difference.

First, the stats go up, and when it’s time to level up, the level goes up automatically. In reality, there’s almost no increase in the stats.

Well, I feel good anyway.

I just let it go.

But as is often the case with good news, bad news follows. And it happened the next day.

*

eight.

“Let go! I’ll blow all these bastards up!”

“Calm down, Lily! If you do that, we’ll all get crushed to death!”

Lily’s screen was breached.

It’s because the bugs bit it with their teeth.

Now, it also meant that my screen didn’t have much life left.

I let out a small sigh.

“Hoo···.”

I haven’t used it in a few days. How are you going to use it from now on?

It’s only been a week now.