Winner Takes All (4)

Kang-hoo was moving toward the place where Park Dong-jae’s gym was located.

Because there was nothing more Kang-hoo could do in Daejeon anyway, and there was no reason to do so either.

Before leaving Daejeon.

He finished a short call with Lee Ye-rin.

It was a call she had made first, and while she expressed deep gratitude for this matter.

It was also a firm answer that as soon as the situation was settled, she would immediately discuss with Kang-hoo the dungeon transfer promised as the request.

The world had become one where things like contracts had practically become nominal, but a written pledge in her own handwriting had also arrived.

She had written one once before when they made the request contract, but it contained such content that she would faithfully fulfill the contract.

Throughout the call, Lee Ye-rin marveled at how on earth he could have killed Gwak Hyeong-su and Gwak Hyeong-seok.

She even said that she truly wanted to hear Kang-hoo’s heroic tale, but regretted that the situation did not allow her to hear it.

It seemed Lee Ye-rin was not the only one who had thought that, as messages also came from Jung Yuri and Yun Sang-mi.

A short message from his master, Celestial Assassin, saying, “You worked hard,” was a bonus. Everyone’s reaction was one of surprise.

“Hoo.”

Kang-hoo half-reclined his body.

What he was riding now was a premium express bus operated by Jeonghwa Transportation.

Perhaps because they had suffered harshly in Daejeon last time, it was visible that the bus’s security facilities had been greatly strengthened.

The guards prepared for even unexpected situations had also been doubled compared to before, and among them, there was definitely a “gunner.”

It seemed like an arrangement to snipe and eliminate approaching criminal organization hunters early in emergencies.

Even so, judging by the fact that the bus fare had not changed, it seemed Jeonghwa Guild was subsidizing part of it.

‘My level’s already stagnated again.’

Kang-hoo checked his status window for the first time in a while and burst into a soft laugh.

When he had gone to the hybrid zone in Western Australia, his level had risen explosively, and he had felt endlessly proud.

After returning to Korea, he had not had time to go to dungeons and had only been moving around outside, so his level had stayed the same.

That was also why he was going to Park Dong-jae. It was right to raise levels when he could.

Moreover, since he could not know when the Full Moon state of the dungeon that had already begun would end, he had to hurry.

‘I gained a lot from killing Vincent. If I hadn’t inherited Dark Energy from that guy…… I don’t even want to imagine it.’

Seeing Dark Energy almost approaching 5,000 made him proud. It was thanks to properly bringing over Dark Energy from Vincent.

Eumhwa, the ability of the Succubus constellation that Kang-hoo had recently started using often.

This ability vaporized the body in the form of an aggregate of Dark Energy and, in effect, evaded all attacks.

But it was a skill with heavy consumption, enough to require 1,000 Dark Energy just to maintain it for only 4 to 5 seconds.

If he had not inherited Vincent’s Dark Energy, his current Dark Energy would have been only 2,220.

Then after using Eumhwa once or twice, he would have had to suffer from his chronic lack of Dark Energy.

‘Now I should put some focus on growing Divine Power. If I want to broaden the range of skill usage, I need to pay attention to the power of light now.’

Divine Power-based skills were as efficient and destructive as Dark Energy skills.

He had permanently secured direction and expandability by placing Angel of the Battlefield as his main constellation.

Because he had focused on Dark Energy growth, he had somewhat neglected Divine Power, or rather, left it slightly unattended.

But since opportunities were still open anyway, he was thinking of gradually paying attention to Divine Power as well.

In the end, it was Divine Power skills that inflicted the greatest damage on monsters based on Dark Energy.

Since they were mutually opposing attributes, possessing Divine Power skills that could counter them properly was essential.

“…….”

Kang-hoo, who had fully reclined the chair 180 degrees, opened the skill window while lying down.

Since the spacing between seats was wide and all the curtains were drawn, there was no need to worry about the gazes of other passengers.

He was about to use Hematite.

He should have used Hematite to upgrade skills long ago, but while saving it, time had passed like this again.

In the days when he had lived as the original author, he had repeated the same “act” when writing his novel.

If an interesting material or episode came to mind, he should have used it in the story right away, but he saved it for later.

His thought had been that he would save it and use it later when he needed it…… but well?

By the time he belatedly used that material after seeing readers who had lost interest before getting there drop away in droves, it was already too late.

Readers who had left without lingering attachment did not return to his novel just because he belatedly used an interesting material.

‘Save it until it turns to shit.’

This saying was not something that had to apply only to others. He thought it needed to be applied coldly to himself as well.

Because growth he hesitated on once could divide the boundary between life and death at a desperate moment.

First of all.

Kang-hoo intended to invest the 3 Hematites he had into skill upgrades.

The Martial God’s Amusement ring, which definitely made its value clear if Hematite was invested, did slightly catch his eye.

But it would be difficult to enjoy results with just 3.

If he was going to upgrade Martial God’s Amusement, it was better to raise it nonstop to first grade.

To do that, he would need close to 10 Hematites, but right now, the quantity did not match at all.

‘I’ll have to go to England one way or another. The only fortuitous encounter where I can sweep up Hematite is there.’

The process was expected to be quite complicated, but in any case, there was a method only Kang-hoo knew.

It was also a fortuitous encounter Jang Si-hwan profited from near the very end of the original story.

That was why it was a fortuitous encounter he could covet and snatch away from Jang Si-hwan now.

If the timeline was not greatly twisted, it would be safe for up to 1 year from now.

‘Let’s see…….’

Kang-hoo’s gaze busily swept over each skill one by one.

Not every skill could be upgraded with Hematite.

Some skills could not have their essence touched even if there was an unlimited amount of Hematite. Item-based skills and hidden skills were representative examples.

So there was a need for the procedure of checking skills where the Hematite upgrade button was activated.

If the conditions matched.

In this way, the name and composition of the skill that could grow appeared.

What Kang-hoo had just examined was the Kidnap skill.

It was a skill he had used quite a lot in the early days. But these days, the frequency of use had decreased considerably.

That was because the success or failure of the Kidnap skill depended on the target’s Anti-Magic.

Since the enemies Kang-hoo had faced so far had not been easy opponents, Kidnap’s success rate had dropped significantly.

Its success rate was at least higher when they were not prepared, but in truth, opportunities like that were rare.

‘Protection Barrier’s efficiency after upgrading is trash for using 3 Hematites.’

He had to look carefully at the tooltip.

That was because there were many skills that devoured a tremendous amount of Hematite, yet when actually grown, their changed form was pathetic.

Unlike what he had predicted, Great Decapitation and Shadow Step also had poor efficiency with Hematite upgrades.

‘Blood Flower is good. If I raise Protection to stage 4, its name changes to Guardian, and instead of its detailed stages being merged into one, it gives 2 seconds of invincibility? This is worth considering too.’

His eyes busily scanned the contents, and his head quickly grasped the gains and losses.

Since Hematite was precious, when he invested it once, he had to be able to clearly feel the investment efficiency.

‘Cutieeeee! doesn’t look bad either. Thorn Hell…… is a skill rented from the Dark Sanctuary, so that’s impossible. Sacred Leap and Optimization - Space also look decent. Fire Rain is usable too.’

There were many skills he wanted to raise, but the materials were limited, so it was only regrettable.

Deficiency created desire.

In the original story as well, Hematite was always a precious material for every hunter. That was why he wanted Hematite even more.

After that, he looked over every skill.

If he added up skills derived from constellation abilities and skills attached to items, the level was close to almost 100.

Among them, there were also skills whose memories were blurry, to the point that he could feel how long it had been since he had used them.

The “Bizarre Eating” skill, which he had entrusted to the Dark Sanctuary for skill rental, or the “Over-Immersion” skill, whose existence he had forgotten because it activated on its own, were examples.

“Vision of Resonance” also had no use because there were almost no occasions where he would be afflicted with addiction or blindness.

A skill like “Survival Instinct,” which activated only when he reached the brink of death, naturally had no chance to be seen either.

In various ways, he ended up completing a full review of all his skills under the pretext of skill upgrades.

After much consideration, the skill Kang-hoo decided to use 3 Hematites on was Blood Flower.

The other skills he had placed among the candidates also had good efficiency, but they were not skills he used as often as Blood Flower.

Blood Flower was usually used often as a finisher or to cause fatal wounds in the middle of a process.

He became convinced that if an additional option was added to it with Hematite, he could torment enemies even more.

The upgrade soon proceeded.

The 3 Hematites quietly evaporated and disappeared before his eyes, and Blood Flower’s tooltip changed.

Its official name had changed to a wuxia-like name. It was an intuitive name meaning that the flower of blood bloomed fully.

However, judging by the way it was displayed like “(Ashen) Thorn Hell,” it would usually be displayed as Blood Flower.

Only when looking in detail would the full name be shown. In any case, he could immediately recognize that it was an improved Blood Flower.

Its proficiency was “Ultimate” because he had used 1 skill enhancement on it before, and it was the choice he had been most satisfied with.

Next.

Kang-hoo also added parenthesis and color-marking filtering together so that he could intuitively see the parts added through the Hematite upgrade.

With this.

In a one-versus-many group battle, he would be able to gift hell twice to the opponent he chose as the main target.

Moreover, when someone lost a great deal of HP to Blood Flower, they would usually panic and use an ability that greatly raised their HP.

If an option that could suppress all attempts for 5 seconds was attached, it was fatal to the opponent.

Because it did not block the use of the ability, but pressed down the effect of the used ability.

From the victim’s standpoint, it would be a picture where they used HP recovery or status recovery skills, but there was no effect at all.

It was an even more garbage-like suppression than having the skill sealed outright.

There was no need to search for Satan far away. Because Kang-hoo, who would joyfully use such a skill before their eyes, would become the demon.