Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Large-Scale Raid - (6)

The rear had been secured.

Now, all obstacles blocking the entrance of the sewer leading to the Lighthouse of the Holy Spirit were dead.

From the beginning, this place had been a side path.

The undead army from outside hadn’t sent many troops through here either. There were limits.

After the battle ended.

Lee Gah Hee asked Sanghyun, who was casually wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Sanghyun-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“I was surprised.”

“About what?”

“I tried to heal you several times, but it didn’t work. That means your HP was at 100%! Is that even possible?”

“It is possible. It’s a trade secret, though.”

“Something like vampirism?”

“You’re not exactly wrong.”

Sanghyun laughed.

The name of the option that restored HP whenever he defeated a monster was “Transfusion.”

No matter how he thought about it, it should have been called Vampirism, but since the system called it Transfusion, that’s what it was.

At any rate, it was natural for Lee Gah Hee to feel a strong sense of unfamiliarity, and Sanghyun had expected as much.

“I knew it was a concept that could exist, but it’s my first time seeing it. Self-healing, I mean.”

“The more low-tier monsters there are, the longer I can sustain myself. Infinite energy source.”

“Doesn’t this make my value drop too much? I suddenly feel a sense of worthlessness.”

Lee Gah Hee looked downcast.

Healers felt the reward of their profession when they restored someone. Like how a swordsman felt it when swinging their sword.

But there was no such case with Sanghyun, so it was simply disappointing. It even felt like her role had been cut in half.

“Don’t jump to conclusions. We still have a lot to do.”

Sanghyun shook his head.

He wasn’t saying it to be nice—activating the Lighthouse of the Holy Spirit absolutely required two people.

That was also why Sanghyun had been more pleased than surprised when he saw the members of the hastily formed Team 16.

With two people, it seemed like the Lighthouse of the Holy Spirit could be activated more reliably than alone.

Lee Gah Hee brushed back her sweat-soaked hair and said,

“I think I need to recover some mana. Can we rest for about 10 minutes?”

Jung Junhyuk, seemingly thinking the same, agreed.

“Me too. I used my elemental power too explosively. I’m feeling dizzy... I need a break.”

“Let’s rest for 15 minutes. I’ll go back and recheck the path we cleared, make sure it’s a safe route.”

At Sanghyun’s words, Lee Gah Hee asked in surprise.

“You’re not going to rest?”

“Nowhere near tired.”

Sanghyun shrugged.

It was true.

He was far from exhausted. He could probably fight several more battles like this without a problem.

* * *

Three minutes later.

‘Ah, seriously.’

After confirming the safety of the route ahead, Sanghyun grimaced as he was about to consume the Necklace of the Cursed Witch.

What had manifested was a chunk of flesh that anyone could tell belonged to a Ghoul’s body.

He fully understood that it was the usual meal of a Frozen Witch.

But the problem was that the texture and smell of Ghoul flesh were beyond imagination.

The texture was soft and mushy like chewing oysters, but with every bite, it released a foul, greasy liquid.

On top of that, the taste was like swallowing a stickier, saltier version of mucus.

In short, it felt like chewing on an oyster soaked in smelly snot. In one word—disgusting.

The mana gained, according to the 60% absorption formula, was 30. Considering it was a Unique-grade Artifact, that was pitiful.

His total mana stat became 790.

‘This really is a cursed Artifact. The stat gain is cursed. Don’t tell me the hidden skill is the same too?’

Sanghyun forcibly swept away the creeping negative thoughts as he continued chewing the Ghoul “meat.”

“Ugh.”

Even Sanghyun, who had tried all sorts of bizarre food, couldn’t adapt to eating raw Ghoul meat.

Maybe if he had no sense of taste, but Sanghyun’s sensitive palate picked up its unique flavor all too well.

“Chew. Chew. Ugh, I just want to throw up and be done with it.”

When consuming manifested Artifacts.

Sanghyun had a personal superstition. If he threw up while eating, the resulting gains would always be bad.

So he forcefully suppressed the rising nausea again and again, chewing thoroughly and swallowing.

Then at that moment.

‘This was an option?’

Even Sanghyun was surprised.

Some Artifacts had unique, innate options.

But he had never seen one that grew by consuming curses.

Curious about the activation conditions, Sanghyun checked the tooltip in more detail.

“Ah, since I literally eat them and it applies permanently, I guess that’s even more intense than just wearing them?”

He more or less understood the situation.

In any case, if he consumed ten Artifacts explicitly named as cursed, the sword would grow to the next stage.

Inside the tooltip, with a question mark icon, there was a shadowy figure of the True Demon Sword of Nightshade.

And then.

There was also a line implying the effect of Nightshade. Like a teaser preview.

“So now I have to start gathering these Essences of Curse too? So much work. It’s not like I’m a collector.”

Sanghyun scratched the back of his head.

Being busy was good, but it also meant he needed to be even greedier to keep up with all the things to manage.

“Still, this dungeon is a gold mine of mid-bosses, perfect for me. As long as I can take them down, that is.”

Sanghyun started spinning his happy thoughts.

Even just steadily hunting monsters like Frozen Mages or Frozen Witches guaranteed him Unique Artifacts.

He immediately checked the skill.

“Three lives. That’s what it means, huh?”

Not dying.

It was every swordsman’s dream.

Fighting amidst countless enemies without fearing death, slashing through them all heroically!

It was also the image of a glorious end Sanghyun had always dreamed of. Of course, he had no intention of dying meaninglessly.

The “Undying One” allowed him to fight with confidence in his invincibility, even against overwhelming odds or tricky enemies.

‘If I remember right, there wasn’t a single named swordsman in Korea who had an undying skill, was there?’

If Sanghyun’s memory served correctly, even the top five named swordsmen had no connection to any kind of immortality skill.

He was enjoying a much better perk than them. A total of 30 seconds of invincibility would come in handy no matter what.

After regrouping.

The battle phase died down, and they entered the pathfinding phase.

The route to the lighthouse was shaped like a maze, so they had to move cautiously.

They already knew how to find the path. They just had to follow the faint mana flow spread along the ground.

According to what Do Kyungsoo said in his past life, this was a system left behind by the Empire’s “Architect,” who had designed the sewers.

Since undead couldn’t detect even small traces of mana, it served as a viable clue.

So Sanghyun was following the flow of mana to navigate the maze.

However, the traps inside the maze had been designed to eliminate beasts that wandered in.

So Sanghyun’s party also had to be careful.

The traps didn’t discriminate between people and monsters.

Progress was smooth.

Most of all, Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk each had excellent ways of detecting hidden threats in the dark.

Jung Junhyuk knew how to utilize a spirit named “Cindy.” Thanks to that, he could scout ahead using Cindy.

Even if monsters were hiding, it was easy to evade them since Cindy was such a small spirit.

Lee Gah Hee also had a divine detection function that scattered holy power around her, revealing any hidden undead.

“This is convenient.”

Sanghyun said while walking behind the two with his arms crossed. For once, his hands were enjoying a proper rest.

In response, Jung Junhyuk smiled brightly and gave Sanghyun a thumbs-up.

“It’s all thanks to how hard you worked earlier, Sanghyun-ssi. I’m just glad I can be of help now.”

Lee Gah Hee asked quietly,

“Sanghyun-ssi. After this raid, would you consider teaming up again?”

Another love call.

As expected.

It was true that Lee Gah Hee was a healer with skills that far surpassed her known title or position.

However, the fact that she was affiliated with the Player Union lingered in his mind.

Of course, he didn’t think badly of her. He simply wanted to tread carefully.

“If schedules align, I’d welcome it any time. But I’ve been really busy lately, so it’d take some coordination.”

Once this large-scale raid ended...

As a contracted player sponsored by Hyunjung Corporation, he absolutely had to visit the Labyrinth of Tranquility.

On top of that, there was the gate raid he had promised Do Kyunghye. It had first-clear perks—something he could never pass up.

He was really getting busy.

So even if he wanted to work with Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk again, he wasn’t sure if he’d have the time.

“I’d really love to team up at least once. I’ve never seen such a stylish swordsman like you, Sanghyun-ssi.”

Jung Junhyuk joined in smoothly.

For Sanghyun, it was a happy dilemma.

The fact that skilled individuals wanted to be near him meant they acknowledged his strength.

It was a kind of insurance.

If he ever needed them, Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk would come running without hesitation.

In truth, this large-scale raid had clearly established the power dynamics between the three.

Of course, the one on top was Sanghyun—himself.

One hour later.

By the time the sounds of the main force clashing with the undead army became barely audible—

“Phew!”

Sanghyun’s team finally reached the Lighthouse of the Holy Spirit. The journey to get there had been tougher than any battle.

The Lighthouse of the Holy Spirit.

When the underground device was activated, the lighthouse would shoot upward and reveal its original form.

And once power was injected into the long-dormant core mechanism, the lighthouse’s miracle would begin.

‘They said it needs about 700 mana to activate, so my current mana stat should be enough.’

He had more than enough mana to activate the lighthouse. The problem was stamina.

To awaken the lighthouse’s power, it required life force from the contactor—which, for players, meant stamina.

Unlike mana, stamina would continuously be consumed until full activation was achieved, so high stamina was essential.

Even more so, a healer who could consistently restore the contactor’s stamina was absolutely necessary.

On top of that, to breathe life into the device that had been still for so long, they also needed a power source.

That was where Jung Junhyuk’s control over electricity came into play. That’s why this trio was considered the ideal team.

‘Do Kyungsoo told me—more than the activation itself, the real trial was facing the nightmares that came with it.’

He suddenly recalled the time Ivan had tested him. That unpleasant experience of confronting his emotional depths.

‘Well, I’m fine now.’

Sanghyun bit down hard on his lip.

He had experienced enough things in his past life that could be called the absolute worst. Nothing new could surprise him.

A man who had walked through hell.

For someone like that, another version of hell was just a familiar environment. Isn’t that right?