Artifact-Devouring Player Chapter 93

93
『Iljin Gwangpung』

■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)

■ Skill Introduction: Using a weapon artifact that can act as a medium, releases a whirlwind that causes a knockback condition forward.

However, the longer you maintain the charging state, the longer the whirlwind’s range and knockback distance will increase.

Mana cost increases from a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 25 depending on the charging time.

“So there’s one more option for the knockback option? The knockback burst was tricky because it was always a close-range hit.”

Sang-Hyeon’s expression as he looked at the introduction of Iljin Gwangpung’s skills looked happier than ever.

While scalability with multiple options is important, diversity with multiple choices in one form is also very important.

The Iljin Gwangpung became an additional option for Sang-Hyeon, who had to use only Knockback Burst to induce knockback.

Moreover, since the form is similar to full charging, it is also a form specialized for creating variables.

In theory, before an enemy gets caught in an updraft and falls into the air.

It was also possible to additionally link it with a whirlwind to blow it far away in the air.

It is a good choice that can produce completely different results depending on which skill you combine it with.

‘I think I now know for sure why the named ones have no choice but to become bigger named ones.’

It’s because of monopolization.

They can enter dungeons, gates, rifts, or restricted areas that are not easily accessible to normal players.

Right now, as in the case of Sang-Hyeon himself, participating in the Gaeseong Expedition was a pie in the sky for most players.

It is a structure in which players who are not wanted by the association and not needed by the large guilds they are participating in can never participate.

Irrationality and inequality.

Players who can turn this into a monopoly structure to their advantage will have no choice but to continue to grow!

“Mainstream life… … .”

That’s right.

The player’s world, the mainstream life that is always at its center.

It was the only shortcut, the only means to get to higher places faster.

* * *

The advance continued until the middle of the 6-5 route.

Wood Killers, which can be considered basic monsters in Gaeseong Field, were hiding here and there and launching surprise attacks.

Of course, it was a piece of cake for Sang-Hyeon, who had already detected the location as a light source using his exploration skills.

However, Sang-Hyeon felt one weakness that was clearly noticeable during the process of moving forward.

It was a more difficult defensive structure to cover with just one defensive sword.

As the number of monsters increases and their levels rise, problems arise in defense.

Of course, this was expected, as it was a place where much stronger monsters were concentrated than the route chosen in the first expedition.

“I need to step it up a notch.”

So Sang-Hyeon decided to strengthen the Defensive Sword a bit more.

Since the only defensive skill available at the moment was Defensive Sword, it was a forced choice.

Of course, I was planning to save the last one of the three strengthening opportunities obtained with the Patience Defense Art title.

Because I judged that there was a very high possibility that at least one defensive skill would be added at some point.

[Would you like to use the title [Patience Defense] to strengthen the 『Defensive Sword』?]

“enforce.”

As soon as he saw the system message, Sang-Hyeon immediately pressed the button to select reinforcement.

And I pressed the selection option to only check the contents added through reinforcement, excluding the existing tooltip.

『Defensive Sword』

■ Skill Level: Stage 5 (32.3%)

■ Skill Introduction: (……omitted)

The reinforced defensive sword can be used alone without the sword, and can increase the thickness of the defensive shield by the amount of mana.

It can also flexibly transform into a form of armor that wraps around the body’s outer edges, protecting the body.

“Isn’t this a complete transformation?”

Sang-Hyeon’s mouth fell open.

As the name of the skill, Defensive Sword, suggests, the sword that was essential to using the skill is no longer there.

In addition, rather than acquiring a defensive barrier of a fixed thickness, it was possible to spread it thickly according to the amount of mana.

Now is the time when mana becomes more valuable in defense.

Another feature was that it was possible to wrap a protective shield around the body, similar to full-body armor.

The strategic value of the Defensive Sword has skyrocketed with just one enhancement using the title.

I wanted to use up every last chance to strengthen, but I held back. Anything more than this was too much of a luxury.

『Flame』

■ Skill Level: Stage 2 (0.1%)

As the skill level went up, it was also good news that it evolved from a small flame to a flame.

Since it develops into a large flame, a fire, and a super fire, it is perfect for supporting the fire attribute.

“Level 118. It’s fast.”

Sang-Hyeon smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the numbers at the back of the level, which kept changing as much as his experience points went up.

When I checked the progress of other Eden Guild members with the GPS device, I was the fastest, excluding Jo Jin-ho and his group.

“It’s easy to hit and run.”

Sang-Hyeon stopped when he saw a rock standing tall. It was a peculiar rock with two red lines drawn in the middle.

After that, a steep path continued on, and at the end there was a deep pool of water.

However, it was not clear water that could quench one’s thirst or cool one down.

It was a muddy water with corpses floating around along with the blood of monsters flowing out from the surrounding area.

It was a puddle of water of such poor quality that you wouldn’t even dare dip a foot in it, let alone drink from it.

“Sixty percent of the gate entrances are visible, but forty percent are hidden in places that cannot be seen. The place I’m going to today is like that.”

The entrance to the gate is in that pool of rotten water.

If you didn’t know in advance, you would never even imagine that there would be a gate there.

Because of this, there were a lot of gates that were not identified in the early days of the player era.

Water Gate.

This is the name that will be given to this gate in the future.

If Sang-Hyeon keeps his mouth shut, it will be at least three years before the name is given.

“I brought a change of clothes.”

As I walked down the steep path, I threw my bag containing my clothes around.

Then, I took off the clothes I was wearing, crumpled them into a plastic bag I had brought along, and tied the string at the entrance.

In an instant, I was left wearing only my underwear, but since no one was watching, I didn’t really care.

However, once you go in and come out, your current clothes will become a cesspool because you will be covered in blood or something.

After finishing the gate raid, I planned to take out some clean new clothes from my bag and change into them.

* * *

5 minutes later.

Sang-Hyeon was inside the Watergate.

“Ugh! Woof. Woof.”

Just taking a deep breath would cause the strong smell to fill my nose and I would gag several times.

Fortunately, there was a stream with clear water flowing in front of us.

The weather was so cold it reminded him of midwinter, but Sang-Hyeon paid no attention and washed himself.

The outside of the plastic bag containing the clothes was filled with what appeared to be animal carcasses and traces of excrement.

But thanks to the neat binding, the clothes stored inside were spotlessly clean.

『Flame』

“Phew. It’s warm.”

Sang-Hyeon dried his wet body with his flame skill.

Perhaps because of the extremely cold weather, the value of fire was felt more deeply than usual.

Even though I had to quickly put on new clothes on my dry body, I couldn’t be that happy with that alone.

I came to my senses.

“The will to charge. If you eat an artifact of unique grade or higher, you’ll be guaranteed one hidden skill.”

Watergate’s characteristic problems aside, the payoff was clear relative to the scale of the attack.

Even the straight distance to the boss was short, to the point where there were no mid-boss monsters.

Just don’t panic when faced with an unexpected situation. Just follow the manual you’ve prepared in advance.

Card ttuk ttuk.

At that moment, the clear water of the stream flowing around Sang-Hyeon began to freeze quickly.

“The Freezer.”

Because I knew, I wasn’t surprised.

A type of ice man made of frozen water.

In the East, he was called the Iceman, and in the West, he was called the Iceman.

The characteristic of the Freezer is that its durability is greatly reduced due to its innate limitations, but it is unconditionally frozen upon contact even once.

It is an absolute freezing trait.

If you get frozen there, other icebreakers will keep touching you, trapping you in an infinite cycle of freezing.

So even if there was recovery or quick purification, it was dangerous.

The number of icebreakers that have already appeared in the surrounding area has already exceeded fifteen. It is even ongoing.

“Where should we try a test?”

『Iljin Gwangpung』

Instead of sending the whirlwind out right away, Sang-Hyeon entered a charging state.

Then, the mana gradually decreased until it reached the maximum amount of 25, creating a huge whirlwind.

Kwung! Kwung! Woof!

The whirlwind roared in all directions as if it were protesting to be blown away quickly.

The Greatsword of Fighting Spirit shook violently. It was to the point where I had to increase the grip strength of my two clenched hands.

I looked a little further.

We checked the number and location of icebergs formed along the stream and determined the optimal timing.

Woof woof… … .

When the last iceberg appeared at the end of the straight line.

Paaang!

The gust of wind that had been building up power until it was about to explode flew forward with a cracking sound.

Cookies, cookies, cookies, cookies!

It was such a loud noise that it felt like you could hear something like this if you saw a tornado up close.

At the same time, it seemed like the icebreaker in the front was flying away due to the knockback.

Kachachachang! Kachachang! Kachaang!

It was torn apart and scattered by the rotational force of the Iljin whirlwind itself.

Just because they were the Icebreakers behind them, their fate was not much different from that of their compatriots who lost their lives before.

Siriririring… … .

The seven icebreakers that were positioned on a straight path based on the upper limit turned into ice dust and disappeared.

Despite this, the Icemen did not back down and began to charge towards Sang-Hyeon.

This was because he was confident that he could neutralize his opponent with just one successful contact.

Sang-Hyeon already knew about the confidence of those icebreakers.

‘The wind is nice.’

The wind just happened to be tailwind.

『Rising Current』

This allowed the rising air current to carry the icebreaker, causing it to cover it more quickly than when there was no tailwind.

The Iceborn, who had no ability to resist or mitigate abnormal status effects, were helplessly lifted into the sky.

It was an attack that caused an airborne for a whopping 3.6 seconds, creating a terrifying sight of the creature fluttering in the air.

And then, with a time difference, Sang-Hyeon continued the prepared linkage towards the falling icebreaker.

『Full charging』

『Knockback Burst』

The method was to freeze again with the absolute freeze of full charge, and then completely break the icebreaker with a knockback.

Moreover, after confirming that the Icebreaker had somehow managed to close the distance to him.

『Back Step』

I used a skill to open up some distance and escaped leisurely. It was a clean evasion without any unnecessary details.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Meanwhile, things began to bloom one by one above the place where the Iceman had died.

“That’s… … .”

A meal prepared as a special first-time privilege! It was the essence of agility.