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Chapter 195: Return
[The skill, Land of Death, has been upgraded to SSS rank!]
A message popped up.
Out of the six skills, Land of Death was the one that got enhanced.
‘An SSS-rank skill.’
He checked the effects.
[Land of Death (SSS)]
[Level Requirement: 491 or higher]
[Consumes 1,000 mana to turn a designated area into the Land of Death for two hours.]
[Effect 1: Enemies standing on the Land of Death have their movement greatly restricted, continuously lose vitality, and additionally suffer special poison damage.]
[Effect 2: Enemies that die on the Land of Death are resurrected as undead up to a maximum of 100,000.]
[Effect 3: Undead standing on the Land of Death have all stats increased by 50%. Additionally, they emit a death aura that reduces the attack and defense of surrounding enemies by 10%.]
[Effect 4: When undead on the Land of Death die, there is a certain probability of dropping mana crystals. The crystals are automatically absorbed.]
Many aspects of the skill had changed.
First, Effect 1, which dealt damage over time.
Poison damage had been added to it.
‘Special poison.’
Poison that caused abnormal status effects was often referred to as special poison.
“This is good.”
This skill had a very wide area of effect. The addition of poison damage alone was a significant improvement.
And Effect 2…
‘The number of resurrections has increased. A lot.’
A whopping 100,000.
It was a number so large that it would be difficult to resurrect all the dead even in a war. The capacity had become more than abundant.
Effect 3 was also a solid improvement. Originally, it increased allies’ stats by 20%, but now it was boosted to 50%. The aura reducing attack and defense was a bonus.
Finally, Effect 4…
‘Mana crystals?’
It was an effect he hadn’t seen before.
It seemed he needed to experiment…
The experiment wouldn’t be difficult.
The Foggy Forest was overflowing with hybrids. He moved into the forest and used the skill.
[Land of Death (SSS) activated!]
Like a giant black starfish extending its tentacles, the Land of Death spread out from Kim Minwoo in all directions.
‘Oh, it’s gotten much cooler.’
Even the densely packed trees in the Foggy Forest couldn’t escape the skill’s range.
Sizzle!
Acrid poisonous smoke rose from the roots beneath the ground.
Hundreds of trees rotted and crumbled in an instant.
Like a hungry maw, the land expanded.
‘The range has increased. Significantly.’
If the previous range was like several schoolyards combined, now it was like several soccer fields combined.
Rustle.
The forest trembled violently.
The vibrations grew stronger.
―Kaaaah!
Familiar screams echoed.
Even though the attack had been repelled, not all the hybrids living in the forest had been wiped out. The Foggy Forest was still teeming with them. The hybrids, suddenly faced with a disaster, were in chaos.
Huge rotten hands emerged from the pitch-black ground.
A hybrid, its limbs caught, twisted and turned, emitting acrid poisonous smoke.
There were many such hybrids.
The effects of the poison were diverse, ranging from powerful damage over time to inducing dizziness, vomiting, and internal decay.
Hybrids, with a base level of over 300, fell one after another before they could even get close.
The hybrids, panting with their tongues out and eyes filled with hatred, glared at him.
They were dying in droves from just one area-of-effect skill.
Seeing this, Kim Minwoo’s eyes sparkled.
“The damage is much stronger than I thought.”
The weakness of Land of Death was that its area-of-effect damage was very low. It wasn’t a skill used with the expectation of dealing damage in the first place.
It was a skill used for the undead buff and resurrecting enemies.
If it were the original Land of Death, the hybrids wouldn’t have fallen, but instead would have charged madly with rage.
But now it was different.
The effect of the special poison was much greater than expected.
‘At this level, it can definitely affect high-level monsters.’
The dead hybrids were resurrected as undead. Their stats increased due to Death Lord, and further boosted by the Land of Death.
The resurrected hybrids, like Lu Bu himself, bit into their staggering brethren. They killed and were killed. And when the undead hybrids died, they dropped blue lumps on the ground.
‘Is that a mana crystal?’
The dropped crystal naturally flew towards him.
[Absorbing mana crystal.]
[50 mana restored.]
“This is insane.”
He gaped at the message. 50 mana was by no means a small amount.
In terms of skeleton summoning, it was enough mana to summon 20 skeletons.
‘This is given for free when a resurrected undead dies?’
In small-scale battles, it wouldn’t be very significant.
But in large-scale battles, in wars, it was different. This skill could resurrect up to 100,000. The number of mana crystals dropped upon death would be immense.
Moreover, there was no need to ‘loot’ them. They automatically flew towards him when dropped.
Simply put, it meant that in war, mana would be almost infinitely regenerated.
“This is crazy.”
Even with mana potions, recovery had its limits. That’s why he had been enhancing his recovery speed with runes and items.
Now, there was no need for that.
At least, not in war.
* * *
A grand festival unfolded.
Fireworks exploded in the night sky, and the smell of grilling meat filled the air.
Everyone was eager to network with Kim Minwoo.
Prominent figures from District 9 sought him out. A flood of requests followed.
After mingling for a while, he left the rest to Amteron and headed for the Rest Stop.
Ding.
The bell on the door rang.
The guide, still glowing white, sat at the counter.
He spoke to the guide, who looked at him with an emotionless face.
“I heard I can upgrade my Heavenly City Travel Pass here.”
“That’s correct. Do you want to increase the active time for a month or reduce the six-month cooldown?”
“The latter.”
A six-month cooldown?
Even if Shadow and the Demonic Cult were clinging to the Red Flag’s pants, that was too long of a cooldown.
“How much is it?”
“10,000 Merit Points to reduce it by one month. At the Trainee stage, you can reduce it by up to three months.”
“Then please reduce it by three months.”
“Can you hand over the Travel Pass?”
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He nodded and handed over the Heavenly City Travel Pass.
[30,000 Merit Points consumed!]
[The Travel Pass can now be activated once every three months!]
Even after spending 30,000, he still had plenty of Merit Points left.
He had earned 80,000 before the attack, spent 20,000 on Heavenly Projection, and 30,000 on the Travel Pass.
Since he had earned 100,000 from the attack, he currently had 130,000 Merit Points remaining.
Even in Districts 8 and 7, this was an amount not easily obtained.
He had already decided how to use it.
‘I need to buy Sponsorship Certificates.’
He had promised Seo Yerim.
He had said that if he went to Heavenly City, he would find a way for her to come and go as well.
Seo Yerim was an SSS-rank genius archer.
It would be even better if she had multiple paths for growth. Heavenly City was one of the good routes.
‘A Diamond Sponsorship Certificate costs 100,000 points.’
This place was similar to a society with a caste system. Most were dropouts without even a proper status. In contrast, those who came with generous sponsorship certificates grew rapidly.
He intended to give Seo Yerim such a diamond spoon.
‘I can give the other two later.’
It would be better to make them wait a bit and start with a Diamond certificate rather than giving them lower-level certificates in a hurry.
With luck, they might even reach the deadly difficulty like him.
Deadly difficulty, with its triple experience points, was a real treat.
At that moment, the guide, who had been staring blankly, asked,
“Did you obtain a Divine Relic?”
“How did you know?”
“I sensed the aura of the statue. It must still be at Blessing Stage 1.”
“That’s right. Do you happen to know how to enhance it?”
“It will upgrade to Stage 2 as you handle the city’s affairs. For Stage 3… you need to challenge the Fog Lord.”
“…The Fog Lord?”
“The master of the Foggy Forest.”
The guide shrugged and said.
Kim Minwoo recalled the map.
The Foggy Forest was vast.
It wouldn’t be strange if a boss monster was hidden deep within.
‘I didn’t see it during the attack.’
The residents had never mentioned a ruler or boss in the Foggy Forest. Perhaps it was a hidden piece of the puzzle.
“That’s interesting. I’d like to defeat it. Thanks for the information.”
“You’re welcome.”
The guide’s attitude was friendlier than the last time he visited the Rest Stop. If the guide had eyes and ears, they would know what had happened in District 9.
‘I’ll have to challenge it later.’
He had gained a lot in Heavenly City.
When he arrived, he was level 385, but now he was level 491. Level 500, the threshold for being considered an S-rank Awakened, was within reach.
Moreover, he had formed an alliance with Lilith, one of the Seven Lords, and established basic infrastructure in the city.
‘It’s automatic hunting now.’
The infrastructure he had set up was continuously generating Merit Points. Of course, it was decreasing compared to the initial setup, but the important thing was that it was steadily increasing. Heavenly Projection, skill enhancement, and even the Divine Relic.
Since the Red Flag was in a stagnant state, now was the perfect time to return.
That way, he could start the 3-month cooldown as soon as possible.
[Merit Point Shop opened!]
[Purchasing Diamond Sponsorship Certificate!]
[100,000 Merit Points consumed!]
Vice Guild Master Amteron.
He had already instructed him on how to act in his absence, so it was time to return.
* * *
[Active time has expired!]
[Returning!]
With the message, he returned to his room. He saw his smartphone on the table. He unlocked it and entered the guild group chat.
There were six members in the chat.
Merhen, Cedric, Park Siwoo, Seo Yerim, Han Siah, and Kim Minwoo.
Of these, he and the two Legion Commanders had been absent, leaving three remaining members.
While scrolling through the chat history, he saw a familiar name.
Han Siah.
‘She must be back.’
After dealing with Lucas, she had left to meet Popo with the Job Change Ticket.
He had been worried because her return had taken longer than expected.
Fortunately, it seemed she had returned about a week ago. Her messages started from then.
‘But what did she do for nearly four weeks?’
He and Seo Yerim hadn’t stayed for more than a few hours.
Something must have happened.
‘I’ll ask her later.’
Scroll.
He continued scrolling down the chat.
‘Thankfully, nothing major happened.’
His biggest concern before leaving was Shadow’s reaction. He had caught Lucas, so they might have reacted somehow. But it seemed like nothing had happened.
Except for one thing.
7/1 (Tue)
[Park Siwoo]
―But won’t it be chaos when hyung comes back? The chairman told me that presidents from all over the world called;
[Seo Yerim]
―If it’s something like a rune, it’s understandable. Don’t worry about that and focus on leveling up. (An emoticon of a rabbit sternly crossing its arms)
[Park Siwoo]
―I’m power leveling, you know? For real;
[Seo Yerim]
―So what’s your level?
After that, the conversation stopped for several hours.
‘Come to think of it…’
Before he left, he had entrusted Chairman Kim with handling the runes. He had been pleased, saying they would be useful for overseas expansion.
It seemed that had caused quite a stir. After all, runes were items that didn’t exist on Earth. It was no wonder the Awakened were going crazy over them.
He checked the news articles.
[Shock! Proud global company, Ilsung, develops runes!]
[What exactly are runes? An in-depth analysis!]
[The identity of the mysterious craftsman K?]
[Leaders of the US, China, and Japan make a surprise visit to Korea!]
[Rune prices skyrocket…]
“The reaction is intense. And I sold them junk runes.”
If they had been good runes, he would have given them to his guild members first.
The ones he gave to the chairman were the leftover runes with inferior options. Of course, the buyers wouldn’t know that…
It seemed that the world had gone crazy while he was in Heavenly City.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
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