Artifact-Devouring Player Chapter 85

85
“The Sage’s Leather Belt”

■ Artifact Grade: Diamond

■ Artifact Introduction: After studying the secrets of mana for a long time, the sage Nekas discovered a formula to amplify special secrets.

The amplification of the Myori is not instantaneous, but it allows you to wait steadily and look forward to the next time.

■ Mana +100

■ Special Skill – Whisper of the Sage

‘First of all, I can’t wear it twice because of the Epic Grade Ascending Wind Belt. I guess I’ll have to eat it.’

This was an artifact belt with stat options that I also liked.

Since the absorption rate for diamond grade artifacts is 50%, mana can be increased by 50.

As a bonus, you can automatically acquire the special skill, Whisper of the Sage!

“Ms. Jiyeon, take good care of your magic stones. There are like five high-grade magic stones. With this amount, you can secure 500 million right away, right?”

“Haha, that’s right. I’ll just take the magic stone with me as promised! I won’t even look at the artifact!”

Ham Ji-yeon carefully collected the magic stones and put them in her backpack with a happy expression.

As he said, it was a sight of Sang-Hyeon looking in the opposite direction of the artifact he had obtained.

It was her consideration to prevent Sang-Hyeon from feeling burdened by unnecessary gazes.

She earned 500 million by revealing the existence of the gate.

And Sang-Hyeon fought hard and obtained a greater reward.

If it was a diamond grade, it would be worth at least 5 billion won! It was a business with a lot of money left over.

“No matter how much I thought about it, it was a magic monster that I couldn’t come up with any strategy for. But that wasn’t the case for Sang-Hyeon.”

“Ultimately, if you want to create variables against the magical world, there is no other answer than to stick with it.”

“We all know the answer, but we all know that putting the strategy into practice is difficult.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m scared because it seems like Sang-Hyeon has everything planned out for him. Of course, he’s my ally so I feel really secure right now, right?”

“Let’s continue to be friends.”

“Haha! Of course it should be like that! Anyway, thanks to Sang-Hyeon, I can enjoy the luxury of defeating even the mid-boss monsters.”

“If Jiyeon hadn’t cast the Freeze skill on the defense barrier, we would have had a hard time from the beginning.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Be confident. You also have to know how to be a little shameless.”

Sang-Hyeon said with a smile.

That wasn’t a wrong statement.

Because it was quite difficult to block Nekas’ flamethrower with a defensive sword.

But thanks to her, he was able to buy time, and Necas did not repeat the same method again.

The seemingly easy response made Nekas give up one of his tricky attack methods.

Since it was a strategic victory, Sang-Hyeon wanted to share the credit with Ham Ji-Yeon. It wasn’t all thanks to him.

“I’ve been to many places as a mercenary, but this is the first time I’ve encountered a player like Sang-Hyeon. He’s really cool.”

Ham Ji-yeon’s reaction of making a double thumbs-up with both hands as if one wasn’t enough was cute.

People who were always with me kept saying that it was comfortable and easy thanks to them.

Sang-Hyeon really liked those words.

Because it seems like I am a source of support and help to someone. Or like I am an object of admiration.

“First, let me secure the view.”

Ham Ji-yeon moved diligently.

It was her quick-witted division of roles, as Sang-Hyeon had lost a lot of stamina in the previous battle.

In the meantime.

Sang-Hyeon quickly devoured the sage’s leather belt while her gaze was elsewhere.

The meal, shaped like a beef stew, was more peaceful than ever.

Was this the most enjoyable meal for the wise Nekas? There is no way to know since he is already dead.

Mana increased by 50 at once.

Mana stat of 397!

Although it was a very high stat by the standards of the inspectorate, Sang-Hyeon’s expression was indifferent.

‘The basic stats for a named character are four digits. I still have a long way to go.’

It was because the gap was still felt the more I looked up.

Named player.

For them, three-digit figures are only seen in stats from one or two areas where they have not invested properly.

In other words, in a field that can be called a main field, it was essential to have four-digit stats.

However, Sang-Hyeon has the highest stat, strength, at 584.

At this level, it was safe to say that it was less than half of Jo Jin-ho’s strength stats.

Of course, stats aren’t everything.

But in basic fighting, the difference in stats is absolute.

The stats are what determine the difference in destructive power that cannot be achieved in a situation where neither can use their skills.

Before your thoughts get complicated.

Sang-Hyeon took a closer look at the Whisper of the Sage, which he had naturally acquired as a skill while eating the belt.

『Whispers of the Wise』

■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)

■ Skill Introduction: You can double the damage of the following attack skills or basic attacks.

Alternatively, you can double the defensive capabilities of defensive structures implemented with defensive skills.

However, in order to strengthen, the skill must be used first, and 100 mana must be consumed.

Cooldown of 10 minutes.

‘It’s a conditional strengthening skill.’

I liked the content.

When fighting Nekas, I thought it was strange that the skill damage was stronger than expected.

I thought the reason was the whispers of the wise man.

Considering the cooldown, it seemed better to use it as a decisive blow like the 5th hit of Strengthen Weakness.

After 4 hits of strengthening weakness.

After laying down the whispers of the wise man.

How about putting the Sword of Crushing in the 5th hit?

If that happens, then when the potential explodes to its full potential, a sword of crushing power of up to 2,600% is possible.

Sang-Hyeon’s calculation was that by this point, even a named player like Jo Jin-Ho could be killed with one blow.

Of course, there is a premise that it cannot be avoided and that it must be met unconditionally.

In other words, it also means that a true one-hit kill is possible. A super finishing move, so to speak?

‘Combination research is essential.’

Sang-Hyeon thought about his growing skills.

If you don’t research the combinations that can maximize the power of each skill in advance, you won’t be able to use them in battle.

* * *

The progress that followed went more smoothly than Sang-Hyeon and Ham Ji-Yeon had feared.

The terrain was the problem, not the monsters.

There were many sections where eruptions occurred after a short precursory phenomenon, so Ham Ji-yeon and I had to move without rest.

However, one thing that was different from before was that the further north you moved, the more experience points you gained.

Perhaps because I had killed Nekas and was heading towards the boss monster, the movement itself became an experience point.

I tried the trick of going backwards and forwards just in case, but of course it didn’t work.

There were also crises that could have resulted in a fever or eruption here and there.

But every time, Sang-Hyeon cleverly avoided it by holding Ham Ji-Yeon and quickly taking a back step.

Thanks to this, even if you were an average player, you could avoid getting burned or being in danger.

‘If you keep doing this, you’ll develop bad habits.’

Ham Ji-yeon thought as she hit her head with a hammer as if scolding herself.

It was so comfortable because Sang-Hyeon took the lead in the situation.

Moreover, since Sang-Hyeon had a plan to respond to any variable, I wasn’t that scared.

Should I say that I felt a great sense of benefit from having Sang-Hyeon as my companion? It was a comfortable ride that almost became addictive.

Half a day later.

At the final destination, drenched in sweat from the heat of the volcano, a boss monster was standing there.

Level has reached 113! Gate conquest has raised the level by 3.

In addition, the boss monster has not been defeated yet. If the conquest is successful, the expected level will increase even more.

‘If I could conquer just one gate like this every day, I’d have no more wishes.’

If there were explosive level-up opportunities like this every day, it would be easy to catch up with a name like Do Kyung Soo!

It was a shame that there weren’t many gates that could obtain the first-time privilege that was given only once.

Kwah! Kwah!

The energy was so strong that it felt like the axis of the earth was shaking, stimulating the tips of Sang-Hyeon’s feet.

“Is that a boss monster… …?”

“They are polar opposites.”

The final chapter of this gate!

Sang-Hyeon bit his lower lip after checking the appearance and concept of the boss monster.

If the mid-boss monster Nekas we fought earlier was a magical, intelligent monster… … .

[Boss Monster]

[Gigant]

The giant we were about to face was a 3m tall giant.

Moreover, his entire body is muscular.

The concept was that if you enlarged the world’s best bodybuilder to 3 meters tall, it would look exactly like this.

‘That guy is 100% charging.’

It is unlikely that his muscular and voluptuous body would be specialized for mobile combat.

It was likely that his main weapon would be to take all attacks with his body and charge at and crush his enemies.

Of course, this is just a guess.

This was the first time that Sang-Hyeon had encountered a monster called Gigant.

I make my judgment based on similar cases, but I can’t be certain without fighting.

“There’s a special medicine to beat up that kind of stubborn type!”

Ham Ji-yeon came forward first.

Her prediction was plausible.

Although charging monsters may have high physical defense, they are often vulnerable to magic skills.

Shaaaa!

Ham Ji-yeon attacked Gigant with a skill that had the absolute freezing option.

It was her own trump card to use a skill close to a finishing move from the beginning.

Kududud!

“also!”

In an instant, Gigant’s entire body froze, and a bright smile appeared on Ham Ji-yeon’s lips.

It felt like he was adding a meaningful stake to the gate strategy that had seemed to only benefit Sang-Hyeon.

‘fu*k.’

Sang-Hyeon’s expression, which had almost smiled with her, immediately crumpled.

Hwaaaaak… … !

Gigant’s body, which had seemed frozen, suddenly turned red and soon everything that had been frozen melted.

It took less than a second for my normal body to become heated up.

“Let’s block this too, then!”

The skill that Ham Ji-yeon took out this time was the absolute ignition skill.

It was a means of definitely burning an opponent, even if it wasn’t as strong as freezing.

It was a skill of the ultimate type, similar to the Shang Xuan’s Crushing Sword skill, that consumed 90% of mana.

It was a decisive move.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Gigant’s body was burned.

But not even a small scream was heard, and soon something happened that surprised Sang-Hyeon and Ham Ji-Yeon.

Kkuddeuk.

This time, Gigant’s body froze upside down and even the flames of ignition were instantly engulfed.

“What is that… … .”

Ham Ji-yeon’s face froze like Gigant’s body. The sense of loss from having her ultimate weapon completely neutralized was great.

“Just like before, it helps my attack or defense with attributes!”

Sang-Hyeon shouted at Ham Ji-Yeon as he kicked away from his seat.

It was a scream loud enough to make her skull resonate, so even Ham Ji-yeon, who had momentarily lost her mind, came to her senses.

『Over Psychedelic』

Sang-Hyeon immediately entered the state of awakening. After all, it was the final boss monster, and there was absolutely no reason to conserve strength.

“Krrrr!”

The giant showed no sign of running away, and drooled profusely, revealing its yellow teeth.

It was clearly a giant in human form, but its eyes and facial expression resembled those of a beast.

『Demon Bash』

『Demon Bash』

Sang-Hyeon, who had quickly closed the distance, immediately unleashed a barrage of Demon Bash attacks.

It was an active attack method with the purpose of preemptively suppressing the situation.

However, the moment he checked the contents activated in Gigant’s information window, Sang-Hyeon’s expression darkened.

◎ Stiffness, absolute immunity!

◎ Stiffness, absolute immunity!

“This is crazy.”

Gigant! This guy was a monster that was immune to all status abnormalities.