Betting (1)

The number of fallen orange mana stones was a staggering 80.

If they combined all the mana stones obtained earlier and divided them equally per person, the value was guaranteed to be 250 billion won.

The more money, the better.

Money was also something that disappeared in an instant to the point that it felt unrealistic, but there was absolutely nothing bad about having a lot of it.

Even when he had written the original story, readers had always raised this question.

If he poured this much money into “Jang Si-hwan,” how would he later resolve the inflation of economic sense that would come because of it?

Unlike the readers’ worries, as the original author, Kang-hoo had no concerns at all.

Because valuable items were just that expensive.

Even if one gathered trillions of won, there were always items worth more than that. So money had no choice but to disappear.

It was the same now.

Even if he bought only one or two decent first-grade items, 1 trillion won would disappear as easily as a child’s allowance.

That was why he thought money was never enough no matter how much he earned and earned. He had never once felt wealthy.

Right then.

A new message appeared in the system message, which seemed as if there would be no more changes after Blood King Jin Ryuha’s death.

“So there are several versions.”

Kang-hoo, who had a sense of what it meant, smiled after seeing the message. Because it was not unfamiliar to him.

The reason was that it had been one of the settings Kang-hoo had conceived when writing the original story. Though he had not melted it into the content.

Since he immediately realized it was the realization of the unconscious, Kang-hoo had nothing to be surprised about.

But Takashi and his comrades, who were seeing this form for the first time, reacted completely differently.

“Divine King Jin Seolha? There are cases where the main boss monster is initialized into a different form?”

“Then does the first-clear privilege apply again? Right? If the boss changes, then they’re meeting each other for the first time, aren’t they?”

“Of course there would be a first-clear privilege.”

Takashi, Lemon, and Mokomichi each put forward their own guesses and conclusions.

Appropriate questions came out, and the correct answer came out as well. It was a perfect(?) conversation where Kang-hoo did not need to add anything.

Then Takashi stared fixedly at Kang-hoo.

Since he was a clone, he could not send a deep gaze or an emotional gaze, but Kang-hoo felt an invisible emotion.

When Kang-hoo stayed still without saying anything, Takashi naturally placed a hand on his shoulder and said.

“Kang-hoo. For raiding this labyrinth, you absolutely have to be here, so I’m definitely going to call you. I’ll leave a spot open, so prepare to come again.”

“Looks like the estimate still says it’ll be impossible without me?”

Kang-hoo smiled and asked back.

That was because he knew how much they had depended on him in important sections of the raid.

On the other hand, there was also the aspect of appealing his value to Takashi.

It was an appeal that showed that Takashi absolutely needed him, and therefore should not think of turning his eyes elsewhere.

The more points of contact there were between Takashi and himself, the faster Jang Si-hwan’s existence would fade.

Because he wanted to make this certain, Kang-hoo put a little more emotion into it and shook Takashi’s heart.

“If you need me, I’ll definitely go wherever it is. We’re friends, aren’t we? There are no conditions between friends.”

“……That was kind of cool?”

Takashi put a hand on his own chest and took Kang-hoo’s words seriously.

There were no conditions. It was also something Takashi had felt throughout the raid.

In some respects, Kang-hoo might have hidden his abilities until the end. But that was not important.

Because when they encountered difficulties in the labyrinth raid, he had used his abilities without hesitation.

Kang-hoo was sincere about the raid.

His purpose was not to look good to the party members, but to face difficulties together and overcome them.

Even without Takashi rambling on, there were more people who would recognize Kang-hoo’s value.

They were Lemon, who had just begun opening her mouth, and Mokomichi beside her.

“Until now, even if we matched hands and feet once with an external hunter, there was never a next time. Actually, it was always like that.”

Takashi nodded along with Lemon’s story. His picky comrades had high standards, and passing them was not easy.

“We thought everyone’s limits were clear. But I want to meet Kang-hoo again. Because next time, I feel like he’ll give the answer in a different way…… I have that kind of expectation. It’s fun. I can’t help wanting to meet him again!”

“Lemon said it so well that I agreed without anything to add.”

“It was really fun! It felt like watching a living bundle of skills, should I say?”

Lemon was extremely excited.

“A living bundle of skills? Haha. That’s an interesting expression.”

Kang-hoo laughed.

People often described him with various modifiers and expressions, but this was the first time he had heard this one.

Moreover, it was true that it fit him perfectly. Was he not a general store where no one knew what skill would pop out and when?

Seeing Lemon and Mokomichi’s reactions, he felt good because it seemed to have become a showcase that appealed to them properly.

The Takashi Family was made up of hunters whose individual members each possessed outstanding abilities, just as much as Takashi did.

If he could win their hearts, there would be a virtuous cycle beyond winning Takashi’s heart.

“I’ll come whenever you call. Look for me.”

He wrapped it up with a simple answer.

At Kang-hoo’s clean conclusion, everyone nodded, naturally promising the next meeting.

Perhaps after parting from him, they would have a heated conversation based on the skills they had seen during this raid.

Analysis and discussion were part of the Takashi Family’s daily life, so Kang-hoo could clearly see what situation would happen afterward.

“Now, now! Before we leave, everyone do your maintenance! I’ll make the loot distribution plan, so you don’t have to worry about that side. Everyone, clean-up time!”

Takashi drew their attention.

The ending was as important as the beginning.

Since everything inside disappeared when the dungeon was initialized, time for a final check was absolutely necessary.

If there were any items they had habitually detached or something they had dropped, they had to take it before leaving.

While everyone was doing their own maintenance.

Kang-hoo checked the list of plunderable skills activated from the dead Jin Ryuha.

There were truly many types.

In fact, the first thing that came to mind was the Instant Ignition skill, which had made Jin Ryuha difficult to deal with throughout the raid.

However, there were two obstacles to choosing it.

The first was that Instant Ignition was a conditional skill that could only be used on sandy terrain.

The second was that, to use the skill, it required a separate stat called “Blood Demon Energy” rather than mana.

Blood Demon Energy was a stat that could only be obtained by killing people. Since it was a stat that forced murder, he gave up on it.

Because he did not want to kill random people just to use that skill. He also did not know how many he would have to kill.

Moreover, there was also a skill he liked more than Instant Ignition. It was a good skill even when considering its strategic value.

Since there was no need to worry about any other choice, he finally plundered the skill.

‘So this was why Mokomichi had a hard time because of Blood King’s Blessing. I was wondering why only that charging medium-sized monster that kept ramming us was so high-level, but this was the reason.’

In the previous battle, there had been one servant whose level had been different from ordinary sand soldiers.

But during the battle, it had suddenly weakened, then died from a single long-range attack by Lemon.

At the time, he had thought it might have died because its time had come, but after seeing the Blood King’s Blessing skill, the puzzle fit together.

It seemed that as the servant moved outside the blessing’s maintenance range, the skill effect had naturally been severed.

Kang-hoo immediately summoned Mumyeong.

Then, when he linked Blood King’s Blessing, the synchronized Mumyeong’s level rose to 245.

It had far surpassed the premise he had previously thought, that Mumyeong would become much more useful once he simply exceeded level 200.

Mumyeong’s utilization value would surge even if he only did sub-tanking. Yet he had already achieved that standard.

As if he still could not adapt to his changed state, Mumyeong looked around and examined various parts of his body.

‘Additional stats from equipped items seem to be separate…… This is a truly meaningful skill. It immediately solved my worries about servants.’

He had been consistently raising Mumyeong, but he had been worried because the speed was slower than he had expected.

But with Blood King’s Blessing, he could think simply.

Because Mumyeong’s level would also rise according to the user’s growth.

On top of that, if he equipped him with additional items, it would be the icing on the cake. There were far more factors that would improve things than factors that would worsen them.

“Mumyeong. Try moving once. Any movement is fine, so move however you want.”

“Yes.”

Shiiing!

Swaak! Swaeek! Saak!

The sight of Mumyeong immediately drawing his sword and swinging it elegantly was on a different level from before.

He was much faster and smoother, and the fierce energy felt from a single sword strike had changed significantly.

Since half of Kang-hoo’s stats had been linked as the basis, a drastic change had no choice but to occur in every field except mana.

His health value had also risen greatly, so even in this state, his tanking ability would be incomparable to before.

‘Should I take this opportunity to expand my interest into necromancy too? With Corpse Explosion and all, it feels like I’m gradually dipping my feet into that field as well.’

A laugh came out on its own.

Of course, whatever the case, his essence was an assassin.

But whenever he obtained skills that could strengthen the traits of other fields like this, his thoughts changed a little.

Like Takashi’s joke, he ended up having the amusing thought that perhaps an assassin was merely an outward package for show……

In any case, the more skills, the better.

The underground labyrinth, where the main boss monster would newly be reconstructed as Divine King Jin Seolha.

He hoped the time for the next raid would arrive quickly. Because he would be able to steal another skill from that one.

Afterward.

After finishing the final maintenance and coming outside, Kang-hoo’s group each took time to rest.

Lemon and Mokomichi went to their own lounges and immediately fell asleep.

Mokomichi in particular fell asleep the moment he lay down, almost to the point of fainting.

That was because, in the process of controlling countless servants, mental connections and severances happened constantly, causing great mental exhaustion.

According to Takashi, once he fell asleep like that, there were times when he slept for days without waking.

He said that recovery of mental strength was entirely in the realm of rest, so sleeping well was the best recovery method.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the interlude, Takashi’s clone was also resting briefly. That was because the main body suddenly left, saying he was going to shower(?).

Thanks to that, Kang-hoo, left alone, fell into thought about what to do with his schedule afterward.

Since he had come to Japan.

He wanted to go to the underground dungeon in Japan that he had confirmed through the Underground Adventurer constellation.

Because if he went there, it was guaranteed he would obtain the first-clear privilege.

No matter what dungeon one went to, the first-clear privilege was a special benefit one could obtain only once.

That was why he could not shake off the temptation. No, he absolutely had to go.