Chapter 92: Second Kaeseong Subjugation Battle - (2)
The strategy had begun.
It was an attack on the 6-5 route, which had been assigned in advance, and Sanghyun was the only one going in alone.
Jo Jinho, Shin Taeri, and Kim Miso were sent to the 6-1 route, which was expected to be the most difficult.
Among those assigned to the 6th route for the Eden Guild, Sanghyun was the only one doing a solo raid.
Because of that, Kim Miso had repeatedly nagged at him, worried about his safety before he set off.
Some Eden Guild members even warned him that reckless bravery like this was how people got injured or crippled.
In truth, they weren’t wrong.
There was a fine line between courage and recklessness.
But Sanghyun was confident.
He had already calculated everything.
Among the monsters he might encounter on this route, none were dangerous enough to be life-threatening.
To put it extremely, even if he couldn’t clear the path, he was confident he could escape without dying.
In other words, he was taking on the challenge because he knew he wouldn’t die. That premise was crucial.
『Breath of Gaia』
‘As expected, there are Shadow Hunters.’
Amid the dense, thorny underbrush on both sides of the path, Shadow Hunters—commonly called Shadows—appeared.
Since all participants had encountered Shadows during the first extermination battle, they were well-equipped with mana emitters.
There was no reason to struggle against the Shadows. Sanghyun was no exception.
He launched a specialized attack on the Shadows lurking in ambush.
『Rising Airflow』
The Shadows caught in the Rising Airflow were lifted into the air, flailing as they lost their balance.
What goes up must come down. He waited leisurely for the Shadows to fall.
『Full Charge』
He no longer needed to calculate the distance traveled based on charging time.
His body and mind had already memorized it—his precision was razor-sharp.
Then—
Splat!
Just as the Shadow hit the ground, his greatsword, empowered by Full Charge, pierced its chest.
At the same time, an ice effect activated, freezing the Shadow, and Sanghyun smoothly transitioned into his next attack.
『Knockback Burst』
Shatter!
The Shadow, which had been hiding moments ago, shattered into thousands of ice fragments.
It was an effortless finish.
In the past, many players had died or suffered severe injuries due to Shadows during extermination battles.
Even with mana emitters, they had too few, and once the emitters ran out of power, they were helpless.
But this time, they had come prepared with plenty of mana emitters and magic stones.
Better safe than sorry. This was the result of Sanghyun’s advice to thoroughly prepare against Shadows.
Even if they weren’t as skilled as him, he believed others were handling Shadows without much difficulty in their routes as well.
‘Shadows aren’t the problem. My real concern is their king—the Shadow Lord.’
Sanghyun thought of the Shadow Lord.
It was the final boss of the Shadow Hunter-type monsters—a boss monster, in short.
Not only could it create multiple clones, but it could also make those clones invisible. A truly troublesome foe.
There was a high chance it would appear.
Since this was a different location from the first extermination battle, the monster composition could be entirely different.
With the increased difficulty, it was highly likely he would encounter a monster as troublesome as the Shadow Lord.
Then—
Rumble.
Something emerged from behind an abandoned truck on the path.
Sanghyun immediately took a defensive stance and focused ahead.
It was a Split, an enemy he had fought in previous battles.
“You showed up already?”
Sanghyun smirked.
Rather, he was drooling at the sight.
During his first battle with a Split, he had used a trick to farm Artifacts in abundance.
Whether it knew of his confidence or not, the Split grinned smugly and created clones.
『Rising Airflow』
He fired an airborne-triggering skill at the Split repeatedly.
Whooosh! Whoosh!
The strong gusts hit, but since the Split had resistance to status effects, it remained unaffected.
It briefly lifted off the ground before returning to its stance, and that was all.
Kekekeke!
The Split waggled its index finger at Sanghyun, taunting him. It even stuck out its tongue.
But Sanghyun wasn’t paying attention—his focus was elsewhere, so he ignored the petty provocation.
//s_win
//win_h ◎ Weak Point Enhancement
◎ 4 Hits
//e_win
His weak point enhancement stat had accumulated four stacks from his previous fight with the Shadows.
This meant his next attack would deal twice the maximum critical damage.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Split didn’t even bother using its thirty clones—it decided to charge directly.
‘That’s convenient for me.’
If it had attacked with all its clones, things would have been more complicated. But instead, it made things easier for him.
There was a fine line between courage and recklessness, and the Split’s confident charge was clearly reckless.
『Sage’s Whisper』
He used 100 mana to activate the skill.
Now, combined with Weak Point Enhancement, his damage output would be at least four times higher.
Seeing Sanghyun stand motionless, the Split assumed he was frozen with fear.
Kyaooo!
Emboldened, the Split drooled messily as it rushed toward him.
Once within striking distance, it used its powerful legs to leap, aiming to crush Sanghyun under its massive weight.
“……”
Even as the Split reached the peak of its jump and began its downward trajectory, Sanghyun didn’t flinch.
But the moment the Split entered the exact position he had planned—
“Goodbye.”
With a triumphant smile, Sanghyun thrust his greatsword forward and unleashed his reserved skills.
『Acceleration』
『Crushing Blade』
『Small Flame』
As a little bonus, he added a layer of fire to the Crushing Blade, just for the Split.
Whoooosh!
With acceleration applied, his greatsword struck far faster than the Split had anticipated.
The Split had braced for a counterattack, but Sanghyun’s speed was beyond its expectations.
It had no idea about his Acceleration skill. That was its critical mistake—and Sanghyun’s calculated move.
Flare!
The greatsword of indomitable spirit, which had pierced straight through the center of the Split’s chest, was engulfed in flames.
Kraaaah!
Not only had its chest been pierced, but the unbearable pain of fire blazing inside its body was intolerable.
Its organs were being roasted in real-time. It was moments away from being burned alive.
“It’s over, you bastard.”
『Crushing Airflow』
With the greatsword still lodged in the Split’s body, Sanghyun activated the Crushing Airflow.
Crunch! Crack!
A sound of collapse echoed from inside the Split’s body.
The noise of ribs and the sternum breaking, along with internal organs being torn apart by the swirling currents.
If one could see inside, it would be a scene more horrifying than anything imaginable.
Kugh…!
Even for a mid-boss monster, having its insides completely shredded meant survival was impossible.
The Split dropped to its knees, gasping for breath.
“You still... still... If you die now, I won’t be able to collect the Artifact rewards. Try to hold on just a little longer.”
Sanghyun stroked the Split’s head, which was unable to even lift a finger despite being right next to him.
Then, he began slicing through the clones, which were standing idly, awaiting further orders.
Aside from their self-destruct ability, they had no combat capabilities, so cutting them down was as easy as slicing tofu.
Clang! Clink! Tiiing!
With each clone’s death, Artifacts materialized in the air and rained down onto the ground.
Although the Artifact grades were mostly Bronze and Silver, the sheer number made up for the lack of quality.
A total of forty!
Some clones even dropped two Artifacts at once, making him an instant Artifact tycoon.
At that moment—
[A-rank Title, 【Selfish Artifact Master】 has been granted.]
“What’s this now?”
Thud!
As the new title appeared for Sanghyun, the Split, which had been gasping for air, let out its final breath.
With that, peace quickly returned to the battlefield.
Sanghyun eagerly scanned the details of his newly acquired title.
//s_win
//win_h 【Selfish Artifact Master】
■ Title Rank: A
■ Title Description: When hunting monsters and acquiring Artifacts, only Silver-grade or higher Artifacts will drop.
//e_win
However, this effect does not apply if anyone else contributes to the hunt, even in the slightest.
“That’s really selfish.”
In short, as long as he monopolized the hunt, he would be guaranteed at least Silver-grade Artifacts.
Silver-grade Artifacts were, on average, four times more valuable than Bronze-grade ones in trade markets.
Just by obtaining this title, the expected value of his Artifact acquisitions had increased by a factor of four.
“I have been eating up a lot of Artifacts. It seems like the system is recognizing that.”
This was a title he had never heard of or encountered in his past life.
It made him wonder if there was an even higher-tier title beyond this.
If so, the guaranteed minimum might not be Silver, but Gold or even Platinum! Just the thought of it was exhilarating.
“I’ll eat them. Carrying them is annoying.”
Sanghyun sat down.
He had collected 40 Artifacts.
He also mixed in the Gold-grade Artifact dropped by the Split, making it a total of 41.
Just in case, he examined the options of each Artifact, but none seemed worth keeping and equipping.
The meal was quick.
The physical manifestation of the consumed Artifacts was nothing but the leaves the Split used to enjoy.
Thus, it felt like he was on a well-balanced diet as he chewed on the sharp-tasting leaves, savoring each bite.
A while later—
After finishing all the Artifacts, Sanghyun checked the overall stat changes at once.
//s_win
//win_h [Stat Increase Summary]
[Time Period: Last 1 Hour]
[Strength +32 / Stamina +15 / Agility +11 / Mana +13 / Luck +00 / Evasion +15 / Defense +54]
//e_win
“My Strength is now at 666. System-wise, the airborne effect of Rising Airflow should last 3.6 seconds now, huh?”
Seeing his increased stats, he felt proud.
His stats had increased by a total of 140 points.
Converted to levels, that was 140, and in terms of Artifact value, it was equivalent to at least a Platinum-grade Artifact.
And there was more.
//s_win
//win_h [During the stat inheritance process, a hidden stat has been inherited. Luck +50.]
//e_win
“This is the real advantage of consuming large amounts of Artifacts. Even with a low probability, the chance of acquiring hidden stats or skills increases.”
His Luck had risen by 50.
His Luck stat had finally entered the 400s!
Once Luck reached the 400s, critical damage saw a significant change.
Previously, the critical damage range was between a minimum of 130% and a maximum of 650%.
Now, the minimum had increased to 140%, and the maximum had jumped to 700%.
An additional 50% at the maximum.
That kind of change meant a light wound could turn into a severe injury, and a severe injury could mean instant death.
And then, another notification appeared in the hidden stat acquisition message—one more skill was waiting for him.
//s_win
//win_h [Hidden Skill: Tempest Strike has been acquired.]
//e_win
“This is more than just a feast. It’s an entire harvest season.”
Sanghyun’s eyes gleamed.