Artifact-Devouring Player Chapter 32

32
Whoa!

He immediately blew off the ghoul’s head.

From the beginning, he seemed to be a ghoul who had lost most of his energy and was left behind by the group.

Normally, monsters, no matter how fearless they are, don’t hang around the portal at the entrance. It’s a dangerous zone.

In addition, the unique energy that the portal itself emits is antagonistic to monsters, so they do not approach.

But this ghoul no longer had the will or strength to do so, and was killed by a light sword attack.

“No matter how much I think about it, the only thing I can do while silent is basic attacks.”

You can break the silence with Recovery, but it’s a skill that can only be used once every 30 seconds at the fastest.

It was because of this aspect that Sang-Hyeon put a lot of effort into creating the defensive sword skill.

There is a saying that a good offense is the best defense, but Sang-Hyeon believed that in some cases, defense is the best offense. This is one such place.

“It is visible.”

The Necklace of Exploration obtained from the Cobalt King marks monsters within a 100m radius in red.

It felt as if a red dot was overlayed on my vision, but it wasn’t bothersome because it was transparent.

‘There are a lot of hidden guys.’

There were many guys that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, but were detected by the necklace.

Most of them were monsters hiding behind trees and were definitely intelligent.

The wind is blowing against you, so there’s no way you can smell anything, and the atmosphere throughout the dungeon is eerie, making for the best conditions.

The monsters were perfectly positioned to target players who were consumed by the fear of the dungeon.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Sang-Hyeon strode briskly towards the place where many monsters were gathered. They didn’t even move an inch.

‘Patience is also good.’

A hot-tempered monster often reveals itself when it cannot stand the opponent’s approach.

But these guys were so quiet you couldn’t even hear them breathing.

This is because undead monsters have a unique foul odor, and their locations can sometimes be revealed just by breathing.

『Full charging』

Sang-Hyeon Seon, who was keeping a suitable distance, prepared to fully charge.

All I could see was a towering tree, nothing else, but what I saw was not everything.

I gathered strength and gathered it again.

And when the amount of mana and thrust has been condensed to such an extent that the Greatsword of Fighting Spirit can no longer handle it.

Kuaaa!

It cut sharply through the damp, humid space and moved a distance of over 10 meters in an instant.

Plop!

The first to fall victim to full charging were upright, well-grown trees.

The bark had already begun to crack before the blade even touched it, and it was shattered along with the trunk as soon as the greatsword touched it.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

And it felt like something heavy was being cut off continuously.

When I turned my head, I saw that many Mummies who had been hiding behind the trees were dying.

No, he’s already dead.

Because there is no way to withstand a fully charged attack with just one’s bare body.

The guy who was crouching and waiting had his head blown off, and the guy who was standing stiffly had his waist cut in half.

Ten mummies were hiding in a single line. They left this world without even swinging their weapons once.

I had thought about the various scenarios in which the intruder would attack, but never one where he would blow the tree up with it. I would have been incredulous even if I had seen it.

[The owner of the secret weapon exclaims in admiration, saying that it is truly a monstrous force that can lift mountains and cover the world.]

[The Lion King takes a sip of his beer, saying that it was the most ignorant method, but that made it all the more awesome.]

The constellations that were watching were amazed at Sang-Hyeon’s trick.

Although Sang-Hyeon chose the most certain method, it seemed like a show of strength to the constellations.

Lehi! Lehieu!

Perhaps because the Mummy unit that was deployed to the front lines lost its lives, the Mummy units that were hiding elsewhere began to appear one after another.

“Hey! Where are you all going? You’re all experience points, so I can’t just let you go!”

Sang-Hyeon started chasing after the group of mummies who were running away in panic.

Meanwhile, Sang-Hyeon continued to track the enemy’s location using the necklace of exploration.

‘They’re smart. They really are picky.’

Sang-Hyeon noticed that some of the fleeing mummies were using a decoy strategy to disguise themselves as running away.

There is a third entity caught in the surveillance net of the Necklace of Exploration.

The distorted expressions on the guys’ faces were clearly terrified, but the situation was anything but that.

Some of the mummies were waiting for their time on trees laden with fruit and leaves.

“Will that work?”

『Back Step』

『Knockback Burst』

Sang-Hyeon used two skills in succession.

Backstep is a skill obtained by eating the Boots of Evasion obtained from the Crack, which allows you to move backwards 5m at once.

Since it takes time to fully charge, turn your body 180 degrees and make a 5m forward movement with a back step.

He used the Knockback Burst skill to smash the tree down.

Unlike monsters, this tree has 0 skill resistance. Naturally, the knockback burst effect is fully applied.

Kwaak!

Then the mummies that had been hiding on the trees fell like corn pods.

It was a result that I didn’t think would be detected, even though it was hidden among the dense leaves and branches.

Swish! Swish!

The sword fell fairly and evenly on the heads of the mummies who fell without warning.

Thump thump. Thump thump.

Heads without owners rolled on the floor, and the corpses of mummies with their eyes still closed piled up.

A situation that has already ended.

Lehhhhhh!

A group of mummies, having lost their will to fight, began to run away in panic.

“Where are you going? I told you to come here.”

The battlefield was completely tilted towards victory. Sang-Hyeon had no need to worry about getting hit.

It’s only the beginning, but it couldn’t be off to a better start.

* * *

When Sang-Hyeon had just started his conquest of Silent Ground.

The scouting department of the Korea Players Association was in the middle of a meeting.

The content of the meeting that continued from the morning was a discussion on the value judgment of promising players that the association was trying to recruit.

Since the meeting proceeds in order of the level of the recruiting candidates, the last target, this player, had the lowest official level.

Click. Click.

Soon, the image of a person appeared on the large projector screen. It was Sang-Hyeon.

The staff member in charge of running the meeting pointed to the projector and calmly introduced Sang-Hyeon.

“The subject of this discussion is none other than player Shin Sang-hyun. It hasn’t even been a month since he awakened from his ordinary life as a porter, but he is showing signs of reckless behavior.”

“I heard about the Bupyeong Station building. Lee Jeong and Lee Hyeon, who are famously picky eaters, praised it.”

“I wonder what movie the video of you locking eyes with Do Kyung-soo at Gangnam Station was filmed from?”

The first to speak up in response to the staff’s remarks were Scout Team 4 Leader Ahn Ik-hoon and Deputy Team Leader Shin Min-jae.

There were up to 10 association scout teams that promoted the recruitment of talent on a wide scale.

Teams 1 through 3 are departments that recruit high-level players who have grown to become complete players.

So the fact that four teams have started discussions means that they are trying to recruit the most high-potential prospects with the highest priority.

Sang-Hyeon’s name is on that list.

Earlier, Ahn Ik-hoon and Shin Min-jae also received reports from brothers Lee Jeong and Lee Hyeon about Sang-hyeon’s special skills and composition.

Sang-Hyeon’s characteristics, possessing many abnormal status skills, were clearly different from others.

Didn’t you trample on the agile Kobold King who used a bow while he was unable to move?

By common sense, this was something that a level 50 player would never be able to accomplish.

In other words, the fact that a player has broken common sense is proof that he or she has high potential.

One of the female employees who attended the meeting raised her hand. She was a newbie who had just joined Team 4.

She was bold and not shy about expressing her opinions, unlike other freshmen. Ahn Ik-hoon liked her enthusiasm.

“Lee Ga-hee, do you have anything to say?”

“We looked into all the information that has been released publicly, starting with what has been reported about Shin Sang-hyun.”

“Was there anything special that you expected? I think Shin Sang-hyun was lucky enough to acquire a lot of skills.”

Ahn Ik-hoon’s reaction was the general reaction of those who had access to information about Sang-hyeon.

This is because the player does not have the background to buy a skill book and learn it.

If he were the child of a CEO of a large corporation, it would be possible to raise him as a so-called ‘money-loving person’, but that was not the case for Sang-Hyeon.

So, although the probability is very slim, I thought of a lucky case where you can obtain many skills in the early stages of awakening.

These players had clear limitations. There have been countless promising players like this in the past. And they all stopped growing at some point.

So, Ahn Ik-hoon was not particularly impressed by the fact that Sang-hyeon was being promoted by the media, including reporter Park Jeong-min, who was known to have a good sense of scoop.

At best, he is seen as a promising candidate whose true colors would be revealed in a month or two.

“I met the team leader who had been working on the dungeon raid with me right after Shin Sang-hyun awakened.”

“however?”

“At that time, it is said that the only skill Shin Sang-hyun used was one that caused stiffness.”

The skill that Lee Ga-hee mentioned. It was Demon Bash. In reality, at the time, there was only the Demon Bash skill.

“You might have saved your skills.”

“It could have been like that if it was a painting buried in a low-level dungeon. They say that Shin Sang-hyun led all the battles.”

“What does that mean?”

“What I’m saying is that every time new information about Shin Sang-hyun is updated, a skill is added. It’s not something he had from the beginning, but it’s something that’s been growing in the meantime.”

Lee Ga-hee’s guess was so accurate that Sang-hyun would have been surprised if he had been there.

“Do you think that’s possible? I haven’t bought a separate skill book to study, and I don’t have anyone I can call a mentor.”

“So, I focused on not only the skills, but also the abilities of the player himself, Shin Sang-hyun.”

“What’s the conclusion?”

“I don’t know how, but Shin Sang-hyun can copy or steal someone’s skills.”

“… … !”

Although the concept and direction of eating were different, it was a fairly sharp guess for a conclusion made by an employee who had never met Sang-Hyeon before.

“The mechanism for developing skills and abilities seems different from the common sense route taken by general players.”

“That’s a variant. A mutant! In fact, all those guys are currently at the top of the player world.”

As Ahn Ik-hoon spoke, he naturally opened his mouth and finished speaking, as if his thoughts had been organized.

Because he has acknowledged with his own mouth the potential and possibilities that Sang-Hyeon possesses.

The evaluation of a promising prospect, which had been cut off every few minutes, seemed like it would be quite long this time.

Every employee in the room swallowed their saliva. It was a sign that a marathon meeting was about to begin.

* * *

Same time.

Sang-Hyeon was dealing with the enemy that appeared right after he had massacred a group of mummies.

Undead Mage.

As befitting a magical monster, they pursue extreme long-range attacks and use methods that are perfectly suited to them.

As expected, there were guys who drove Sang-Hyeon’s mind wild with their whining and wailing sounds.

“Suicide Paris.”

It’s only the size of a pinky’s fingernail, but it’s a vicious creature that sprays highly acidic fluid when hit.

Khehehehe… … .

The undead mages were looking down on Sang-Hyeon and laughing, as if they had found good prey.