Chapter 122

Chapter 122: Break Spot - (1)

"As expected, it's delicious."

Sanghyun chewed the okonomiyaki he had stuffed into his mouth with a combat-like intensity, savoring its taste.

Mizuno.

One of the must-visit restaurants in Dotonbori.

Even in his past life, whenever he had the chance to visit Osaka, he made sure to come here, even in pouring rain.

"The weather is just right. I don’t have to worry too much about prying eyes."

Sanghyun glanced outside, where the rain had begun to drizzle down.

In about two hours, a heavy rain warning would be issued, which explained the relatively empty streets.

"I've eaten enough."

Sanghyun got up from his seat, paid the bill, and stepped outside.

A few passersby curiously glanced at the greatsword strapped to his back, but none recognized him.

It was actually more convenient that way.

If people recognized him even abroad, that would be quite exhausting in its own way.

As he walked further, the famous Glico neon sign of Dotonbori came into view.

That neon sign never failed to capture his attention. Seeing the crisp Katakana letters once again made him realize he was truly in Japan.

"Japan also has a lot of hidden gem gates."

As expected of a player, vivid memories from his past life surfaced.

Japan, with its vast land, had many undiscovered gates.

The Japanese Player Association and guilds generally avoided challenging unexplored gates.

Instead of taking risks for first-clear rewards, they preferred tackling gates that had been cleared multiple times safely.

That was one of the major differences between Japanese and Korean players.

It was to the point where experts even wrote research papers analyzing the fearless challenge-seeking nature of Korean players.

Korean players' willingness to take risks was always compared to the conservative and defensive approach of Japanese players.

"I need connections in Japan too."

Japan was quite open to foreign players applying to raid gates.

Especially when it came to unexplored gates or dungeons with first-clear rewards.

So as long as he could establish the right connections, conquering Japan’s gates wouldn't be too difficult.

After walking along the river for a while, he passed through a busy district and arrived at a deserted underpass.

"Here."

Sanghyun pinpointed the exact location.

Having read numerous articles and research papers about this place in his past life, the image was crystal clear in his mind.

He needed to jump into the river, but he hadn’t brought any spare clothes.

It didn't matter. The dry conditions inside the dungeon would naturally dry his clothes. Besides, no one was watching.

A moment later.

Splash!

Sanghyun plunged into the river and disappeared without a trace.

A perfectly discreet move, away from prying eyes.

Descending as deep as possible, Sanghyun immediately proceeded to the next step.

He consciously released mana from his body!

A difficult task for the untrained, but effortless for Sanghyun.

Shhh. Shhh.

As his body exuded mana, blue sparks of light began to flicker around him.

The energy leaking from the Break Spot dungeon was reacting intensely!

Then, in the pitch-black depths of the water, a ring-shaped entrance slowly revealed itself.

Time to enter!

No hesitation was needed.

At the same time.

A man stepped out of a steamy shower room, roughly drying his wet hair with a towel.

Draped in a bathrobe, he was approached by an attendant dressed in a formal suit, who bowed respectfully.

The man asked in a voice tinged with irritation.

"What is it?"

"A gift from the fan club has arrived to celebrate your return, sir. It has been placed in Room 5."

"What kind of gift?"

"Since the fans heard you like snacks, about 90% of the gifts are various kinds of snacks."

"Throw them away, feed them to the dogs, whatever. Just get rid of them. People always waste their time on nonsense."

His expression was filled with annoyance.

There was no trace of appreciation for the emotions behind the fans’ gifts.

What was even more unsettling was that his attendant didn’t find this reaction unusual at all.

The man asked his attendant.

"How long was I inactive?"

"Approximately three months, sir."

"Just as I thought. My PlTube subscribers and Playgram followers have dropped by 5%. Damn."

"Well, you haven’t been active, after all."

"I’ll have to start doing photoshoots and broadcasting again. This won’t do."

"Will you be alright with that, sir?"

"I don’t have a choice. People’s love is the source of my power. I have to act like I enjoy it, even if I don’t."

The corners of his lips curled into a smirk.

He despised fans more than anyone, yet he knew how to put on a façade for the sake of his power.

His celestial sponsor was one that thrived on admiration and affection—a textbook case of an attention-seeker.

"How was your training?"

"I refined my skills a lot and drastically increased my destructive power. I also made great progress in skill crafting."

"As expected of you, sir."

"Enough with the empty flattery."

"Understood. I will schedule a photoshoot immediately. Any other instructions?"

"I need a sacrifice. Someone whose death certificate has been cleanly processed and whose blood is free of mana... A pure, ordinary human."

"Understood."

"Heh. I’ve been holding back for too long."

The man sat on the sofa, taking large gulps from a wine glass filled with deep red wine, his lips curling into a smile.

His name was So Hyeongjun.

A player known as the Sword God.

His closed-door training had come to an end.

Meanwhile.

Just as Sanghyun had expected, the initial phase of clearing this dungeon was progressing smoothly.

It wasn't that the dungeon was particularly weak—Sanghyun’s sheer superiority made it seem that way.

This Break Spot dungeon had no player limit, but the monsters' health and attack power scaled with the number of entrants.

So whether solo or in a group, the difficulty difference wasn’t drastic.

The real issue was that even though Sanghyun was alone, he was fighting at the strength of two—or perhaps even more.

Regardless, he was having a blast slicing through the monsters, as if celebrating the debut of his Frenzied Demon Sword.

When he reached the center of the dungeon, his level had risen from 150 to 153 in just two hours.

If it were a typical player team composition, it would have taken at least 24 hours to gain three levels.

"The amount of experience points is definitely incredible. But there's not a single sign of magic stones or artifacts."

That made things cleaner.

Since this was a dungeon where porters couldn’t be brought along, any dropped items would only add to the burden of what he had to carry.

"It's finally done."

The two masteries that Sanghyun had been working hard to create had both appeared at the same time, as if by agreement.

Compared to Agility Mastery, these had appeared much later, likely due to the amount of training and proficiency required.

Mastery skills worked on their own, playing their role without needing to be actively used.

For Sanghyun, they were valuable skills.

Now, the likelihood of becoming a sword-wielding scarecrow due to debuffs had decreased significantly.

Additionally, his blood transfusion effects and health potion efficiency would improve immediately.

"It’s about time."

Sanghyun glanced around.

It was time for the mid-boss monster to appear.

To Sanghyun, boss monsters and mid-boss monsters carried a significance far greater than they did for other players.

This was due to the third effect of the Goddess of Fortune.

Since it ensured an artifact drop, he had every reason to hunt them down.

"Something that resembles me. That’s the concept, I guess. How troublesome it will be, I’ll have to find out."

The official name of the mid-boss monster he would soon encounter was 'Replicator.'

As the name suggested, its characteristic was using the skills of the player who entered the dungeon.

Not only that, but it also trained and developed on its own while waiting.

Eventually, it would use skills more powerfully and intelligently than the player it had copied from—like a student surpassing the master.

Sanghyun hadn’t come to this dungeon solely for the experience points.

Of course, the dungeon provided an unparalleled amount of experience compared to others.

But there were also several perks he could enjoy.

One of those was the Replicator.

Killing it granted a reward: the ability to enhance a skill. A highly valuable benefit.

Just then—

"……"

Sensing a strong killing intent, he turned his head and saw a man standing imposingly atop a hill where the wind blew.

"It's exactly the same."

He saw another version of himself.

It was so identical that if they stayed still, it would be easy to mistake it for a mirror reflection.

"It's exactly the same."

The Replicator mimicked Sanghyun’s words exactly. Even the tone, intonation, and voice were identical.

"Do you know everything about me?"

"I know everything about you."

"Oh? You even know how to answer?"

"Oh? An interesting research subject."

"Your way of speaking is disgusting."

"You're looking at your own face while saying that?"

"……"

The Replicator's learning speed seemed faster than expected. It was quick-witted.

Keeping a distance of about 30 meters.

Sanghyun stood facing the Replicator for quite a while. While not exactly the same, even the greatsword it held looked identical.

'It should have only learned skills I've used at least once in the dungeon, so it doesn’t have everything.'

He calmly assessed the situation.

He knew that the Replicator could only copy skills used after the player had entered the dungeon.

In other words, it couldn't have pre-learned anything before seeing it in action. There had to be a 'source' for replication.

'I’ll have to pour my soul into every new skill I use.'

He needed to exploit unfamiliarity.

The Replicator would only be caught off guard if he attacked using a skill it had not yet observed.

Otherwise, it would have already studied the skill and would be able to counter it smoothly.

Sanghyun activated three skills to swiftly corner the Replicator.

Not only would he move faster toward his target, but the more the target attempted to flee, the stronger his skills would become.

"Heh, let’s study some more."

Almost simultaneously, three red light sources were absorbed into the Replicator one after another.

Soon, it would be able to use those three skills as well. He had to keep that in mind.

As the distance between them closed significantly—

Sanghyun immediately activated a provocation skill.

It was a ploy to keep the Replicator engaged in close combat.

"Think that'll work?"

The Replicator smirked at him.

The provocation was immediately nullified.

Recovery.

"This is bullshit."

Sanghyun spat out a curse.

Even though it felt satisfying to swear, his back heated up slightly.

Perhaps because he was cursing at what was essentially himself.

Even when analyzing the situation rationally, he couldn’t deny that his own skill set was an absolute pain in the ass when used by an opponent.

'I was waiting for this moment.'

The cooldown for Recovery was now in effect.

Sanghyun followed up with an inescapable strike against the Replicator.

Death Touch!

And it was fully summoned—executed with a perfect setup using 500 mana.