Chapter 58. Did I Defeat It?

— Welcome back.

When Kim Do-Joon returned to the store, he was greeted by Siwelin as always. He responded with a simple greeting and sat down.

— How was it?

Siwelin asked, sitting beside him.

"What do you mean?”

— The pillar thing. You went to see it, didn't you?

"Oh yeah, it wasn’t anything special.”

Given his unique Insight skill, Kim Do-Joon had hoped he might see something unusual. However, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The black stem piercing the sky was just a pillar.

— On TV, the event looked pretty grand.

"You mean the Hunters going inside?"

Siwelin nodded. The departure ceremony was broadcasted live, so she had seen it from the store. The guild alliance Hunters confidently entered the black, sky high pillar.

They didn’t seem nervous...

The hastily formed alliance seemed to be functioning smoothly, at least on the surface. The relationship between the two key leaders, Shin Yoo-Sung and Oh Tae-Jin, also appeared to be amicable.

Thinking of Oh Tae-Jin brought back a recent encounter. Kim Do-Joon recalled the moment he briefly met Oh Tae-Jin.

— I'm Oh Tae-Jin from Karma. I've heard a lot about you.

Oh Tae-Jin had said to Kim Do-Joon, extending his hand.

"I'm Kim Do-Joon," Kim Do-Joon replied, hesitating for a moment before shaking his hand.

Kim Do-Joon wondered if Oh Tae-Jin might try something during the handshake, but nothing happened. Anything else would have made Oh Tae-Jin look like a third-rate thug.

That was it.

Their encounter was brief—a handshake, a glance, and then they parted ways. However, Kim Do-Joon had one more question for him before he left.

— Mr. Oh Tae-Jin.

—

Hm?

Oh Tae-Jin turned back at Kim Do-Joon's call.

— I heard you recommended me for this expedition. Why?

— No particular reason. As I mentioned in the meeting, I thought your experience with the elf would be useful for this mission.

He added.

— I want this expedition to succeed at all costs. So, I was a bit disappointed when I heard you declined.

What Oh Tae-Jin said matched what the Association President had told Kim Do-Joon. Oh Tae-Jin might be promoted to S-rank if this expedition succeeded, which was why he was so invested in it.

At least that part is true.

Oh Tae-Jin genuinely wanted the expedition to succeed and was disappointed that Kim Do-Joon did not join. Of course, just because one part was true didn’t mean he wasn’t hiding anything else.

— Oh, right. A lot of packages came.

Siwelin wrote, snapping Kim Do-Joon out of his thoughts.

He looked in the direction she pointed, and saw several boxes piled up behind the counter.

"Perfect timing," Kim Do-Joon muttered.

— What did you get? Did you order the usual stuff?

"Yeah," Kim Do-Joon replied curtly.

Siwelin understood immediately. They were mainly items for copy-pasting from the market.

"I'm heading in now. This labyrinth might take a while.”

— I'll take care of the house and So-Eun. Don't worry!

"Thanks," Kim Do-Joon smiled gratefully.

Siwelin did so much for him, allowing him to enter labyrinths without worries. Providing her with a salary and other benefits still didn’t feel enough to express his gratitude.

— I do it because I want to. So-Eun reminds me of Layla.

"Layla?" Kim Do-Joon tried to recall.

He’d seen Layla in Siwelin’s memories.

"

Oh,

that girl who gave you the flower necklace," Kim Do-Joon said.

— Oh, you saw that too?

Siwelin blushed slightly, embarrassed that Kim Do-Joon had seen parts of her memory.

"Sorry about that.”

— No no, it's okay. I know it was inevitable. Anyways, Layla was such a sweet child. Seeing So-Eun reminds me of her. It's comforting, but also makes me a bit sad sometimes.

Siwelin said with a bittersweet smile. Layla's grave was among those Siwelin had made.

“...”

Kim Do-Joon couldn’t find the right words to comfort her. He knew that expressing condolences wouldn’t offer any real solace, so all he could do was be there for her.

He was the only one who shared even a fraction Siwelin's memories and emotions from when she buried the Temple's people.

A silence followed, neither awkward nor pleasant. It was broken when Siwelin suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong?" Kim Do-Joon asked.

— It's time for the live broadcast of

I Loved You!

"

I Loved You

?"

— It's a drama I'm really into these days!

Siwelin said, frantically looking for the remote.

Kim Do-Joon chuckled as he watched her eagerly flip through channels. With a final glance at her, he headed to the basement, carrying several boxes.

In the basement workshop, Kim Do-Joon took out his spear, Karlish, and opened the boxes. Inside were seven different items.

— What's all this?

"I ordered these from the market. They have the necessary effects for the labyrinth," Kim Do-Joon explained to Karlish as he sorted through the items.

Soon, the seven items were condensed into one: a wand resembling a twig.

— What effects does it have?

As the wand transformed into light and disappeared, it imbued Kim Do-Joon with its effects. He closed his eyes as energy surged within his body.

Since the level wasn’t too high, there wasn’t a drastic change. Nevertheless, the effect was pricey and he had limited funds due to moving. He could distinctly feel the enhancement because he could handle mana more precisely.

"It's mana," Kim Do-Joon replied.

Given the importance of endurance in the upcoming labyrinth, mana stat was the effect he deemed to be the most important.

***

[You have entered the Sky Road.]

As soon as Kim Do-Joon stepped inside, he saw the two statues from before. They stood silently on either side of the ascending staircase. Without Insight skill and prior knowledge, anyone would have been fooled into thinking they were inanimate objects.

The statues stood there, feigning ignorance, as if unaware that Kim Do-Joon already knew their secret. Perhaps, they had forgotten their previous encounter.

— Aren't they adorable?

"Adorable?" Kim Do-Joon replied, puzzled.

— They're like cats pretending not to notice you.

Kim Do-Joon shook his head at Karlish’s chuckling. He wouldn’t consider those massive figures, wielding grotesque weapons, adorable, let alone cat-like.

This way, I can strike first.

Kim Do-Joon started eyeing the massive figures, considering how to bring them down. However, Karlish interrupted his thoughts.

— How's that mana you gathered earlier? Is it working out well?

Just before entering, Kim Do-Joon had copy-pasted the mana stats from seven pieces of equipment. Each added one point to his mana stat, thus increasing it by seven. Although the increase usually wasn’t noticeable right away, he felt a difference. That was because his method of handling mana, learned from Karlish, was quite different from other Hunters.

"It seems like the amount of mana has increased a bit. It also feels cleaner," Kim Do-Joon replied.

Both the quantity and quality of his mana had improved slightly, with the qualitative improvement being more noticeable. The mana flowing through his body felt more refined.

— Wow, that's a neat ability. It's like taking an elixir, but using equipment.

"Well, it's a modest improvement compared to real elixir," Kim Do-Joon replied.

Real elixirs were legendary items, with only two of them appearing since the emergence of the World Tree. These elixirs sparked incredible stories—like an E-rank Hunter becoming an S-rank Hunter after drinking one, or a civilian curing a chronic illness and living to 120 years old.

It seemed like such an unbelievable tale, almost as if made up. However, since these stories were recorded, it could not be dismissed as entirely false.

If I keep increasing my mana stats, will it eventually have effects akin to an elixir?

It seemed possible, but no one could say for certain since no one had ever achieved that before. Kim Do-Joon was the first and only one experimenting with this.

Then, he started channeling his mana. The mana from his heart core split like threads, permeating his entire body.

As if sensing something unsettling, the statues started moving first.

Rumble—

Two of them approached, raising their crescent blades high before striking down at Kim Do-Joon.

Boom!

A crater formed on the ground as dust and dirt flew into the air. However, Kim Do-Joon, in the center of it all, remained unscathed.

With Invincible Body, a defense power effect over 200, and twenty strands of mana reinforcing his bones and muscles, he was unharmed. The next moment, he pushed off the ground and leaped, targeting the statue on the right.

Thud!

He landed on one of the statue’s shoulders. The statue's hand immediately swiped at him, trying to swat him off like a bug.

Well, to them, I must seem like a big insect.

Kim smirked and leapt again.

Bang!

A booming sound resounded between his foot and the statue’s shoulder as he soared into the sky.

— Still a long way to go, you fool.

Karlish chided him, clicking his tongue. The fact that he still made a noise meant his technique wasn’t refined yet.

Kim Do-Joon chuckled bitterly and pulled out a long chain mace from his inventory.

Swish!

Whipping around, the chain mace wrapped around the statue's neck. Kim Do-Joon landed on the ground while pulling the chain.

Rumble—

The statue twitched and that was it.

Alright then...

Dodging an attack from the other statue, Kim Do-Joon grabbed Karlish. Given the situation, and 61% Compatibility, he had already anticipated this to happen. Kim Do-Joon quickly gathered mana in his arm to use Violent Stream.

Kim Do-Joon didn’t need the precision he used against Eldora. Speed and power were of essence.

In an instant, a cold vortex formed along the spear. He thrusted it at the statue's leg, shattering it. The statue lost balance and fell.

Boom!

Once it fell, the timing was entirely in Kim Do-Joon's favor. However, there was one problem.

Where do I strike to kill it?

Since the statue was not a living being, it was hard for him to identify its weak point.

"

Tsk,

I have no choice then," Kim Do-Joon muttered.

The statue was struggling to rise.

Kim Do-Joon's decision was swift. Clicking his tongue, he thrusted the spear into the statue's head. The mana-infused spear spun, drilling its hard head like it was tofu, but it was still moving.

At the same time, the second statue swung its crescent blade at him.

At least the attack patterns are simple.

Fortunately, the statues didn’t possess special abilities or movements that matched their high Compatibility, so the fight was manageable.

It was all thanks to the spear techniques he learned from Karlish. Without them, an ordinary Hunter like Kim Do-Joon would’ve struggled to penetrate the statue’s body.

If it's a common mob, even over 60% Compatibility is manageable.

Unlike last year, when he couldn’t even handle a wild dog beast and fell off a cliff, he’d grown so much.

Feeling a sense of achievement, Kim Do-Joon stabbed the first statue's abdomen.

Crack!

With a sound of something breaking, the light in the statue's eyes faded.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Did I defeat it?

When Kim Do-Joon pulled back the spear, he found something inside the statue's body. It was an information window for an item.