TL: SWAN
PR: Hayath
Chapter 2: My Efforts Were Not in Vain (2)
Is this possible?
Suddenly, a man appeared and effortlessly dispatched two monsters. At first, I thought he might be a hunter. However, with his towering height of 190cm, medieval-style armor, and handsome appearance with golden hair flowing, there was no mistaking it; he was my protagonist, Taeseng GilgeoI. The introduction also confirmed it.
It was an unbelievable phenomenon.
I wanted to ask how this happened, but now wasn’t the time.
“Roarrr!!”
Though he took out the leading rock bear, there were still several monsters from the dungeon. Moreover, the boss monster was unscathed. It was much larger than the surrounding rock bears, with a height that seemed to exceed 5 meters.
Should we fight? Should we run?
It wasn’t easy to make a quick judgment.
While I couldn’t defeat all the monsters that came out of the E-rank dungeon, the knight who had just killed the rock bear seemed like someone I could handle.
As I was roughly estimating my options, Taeseng GilgeoI suddenly spoke up and charged toward the approaching monsters.
“Master, these monsters have a clear hostility toward you. I’ll take care of them and come back.”
Suddenly, he rushed into the group of monsters without hesitation.
“Wait, wait…!”
He was charging in alone, even though there were so many monsters!
I hurriedly tried to stop him, but it turned out to be unnecessary.
Swish! Clang~! Thud~!
As Taeseng GilgeoI swung his sword and struck the ground, the monsters seemed to be drawn toward him like magnets, moving closer.
The origin of the nickname ” Taeseng GilgeoI ” was the main skill of the guardian knight, called “Attract.”
Thus, Taeseng GilgeoI pulled the monsters forward.
With a single swing of his sword, he neatly disposed of them.
He simply passed by, slashing the necks and abdomens of the sturdy rock bears, causing blood to splatter as they collapsed.
The boss monster wasn’t much different.
“Kraaaah!!”
The giant ashen rock bear roared in fury at the deaths of its subordinates and charged.
But with a swift movement, Taeseng GilgeoI evaded its claws and counterattacked with his sword, easily overpowering it.
Is that even possible?
As I witnessed this dream-like scene before my eyes, my mouth involuntarily fell open.
Though I had seen numerous hunter videos on the internet, I had never seen someone so effortlessly defeat E-rank dungeon monsters.
Or rather, what does “effortlessly” even mean?
My character, whom I had been raising, cleared around a dozen monsters in less than a minute.
As unrealistic as the sudden dungeon break, I stood there dumbfounded, unable to find the right words.
However, this wasn’t a dream.
After the battle, Taeseng GilgeoI approached me and spoke.
“Do you have any injuries, my lord?”
“Lord? Are you talking to me?”
“Yes, I am.”
The man before me called me “my lord.”
He was unmistakably Taeseng GilgeoI, from his appearance to the items he equipped, just as I had customized.
But that’s not all.
[Character Name – Taeseng GilgeoI]
[Level 999]
[Class – Guardian Knight]
[Strength: 880]
[Agility: 810]
[Intelligence: 710]
[Stamina: 920]
[Mana: 780]
[Attract] [Triple Armor…
Even the transparent letters floating in the air were pointing to the fact that the man was indeed Taeseng GilgeoI.
And as soon as I checked his character information…
“This is insane…”
I could only gape in astonishment.
In the current world, it was known that even the highest-ranked SSS hunter’s level didn’t exceed 750.
In contrast, Taeseng GilgeoI’s level was the maximum of 999, the same as that of a high-tier character. If these stats applied just like real-life hunters…
It meant that the character I raised was far stronger than the world’s best hunter.
It was hard for me to believe, but Taeseng GilgeoI seemed quite calm about the situation.
“My lord, are there more enemies to defeat?”
“…No, once the boss monster is killed, the dungeon break ends. But there’s something else I want to ask.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You, are you the ‘Taeseng GilgeoI’ that I raised in the game ‘Higher’?”
After confirming the resolution of the dungeon break, I asked the most pressing question.
For some reason, my head was remarkably clear and composed.
“I operate under the name bestowed upon me by my lord and abide by the contract to assist and follow my lord’s commands.”
The bestowed name and contract.
The first thing that came to mind was character creation in the game.
I had entered a nickname and created a character, so it wasn’t wrong to say that I had bestowed a name and made a contract.
Based on the appearance he showed while hunting monsters and the information in the status window, I could assume that the blonde knight in front of me was indeed ‘Taeseng GilgeoI.’
To confirm this further, I tried to pick up my phone to log into the game, but…
When I tried to relaunch the game, I only received error messages repeatedly.
It was a phenomenon I had never experienced during the years I played Higher.
This somehow reinforced the hypothesis that summoning ‘Taeseng GilgeoI’ outside of the game was a unique ability I acquired after awakening.
“Perhaps because I came to be by my lord’s side, my access to the other world is blocked. Although the contract in the sanctuary is infinite, the contracted incarnate is an independent existence.”
“I see. Understood. The sanctuary is Higher, and the incarnate is the character… in other words, it refers to beings like you, right? And you came from the sanctuary, to here, so you can’t access it.”
“Exactly, my lord.”
The terms were unfamiliar, but the concept was not difficult to understand.
In simple terms, the character I raised in the game came out into the real world.
Considering the fact that only I had awakened and that ‘Taeseng GilgeoI’ had only appeared since then, this ability was likely my unique power.
“Is summoning incarnates something only I can do?”
“Yes. Summoning incarnates can only be done by the one lord who is equal to the ruler of Higher. Before and after, only my lord can do it.”
“If I were to summon other incarnates?”
“If they are incarnates contracted by my lord…”
But I couldn’t hear the rest of the answer.
“Rooaaar-!”
Taeseng GilgeoI suddenly vanished in a swirl of smoke.
I quickly looked around to find the reason.
[Mana – 0/300]
[Insufficient mana.]
[Incarnate summoning will be canceled.]
“So, it was a lack of mana.”
Mana is an essential resource for hunters to use skills.
Normally, when summoning a familiar, mana is consumed during the summoning and while it is maintained. Taeseng GilgeoI was a powerful character, so the amount of mana consumed must have been significant.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t checked the status window.
My focus was entirely on the incarnation of the game character, and I couldn’t even grasp the basics of a hunter’s status window.
“Open status window.”
I followed the way the hunters did as I had observed them. However, I had to cancel it soon after.
Woooong~!!
The phone’s alarm notified that the relief crew would arrive in 10 minutes.
‘I should keep this a secret for now.’
Exposing both the dungeon break and my awakening as a sentinel would do me no good.
I cleared up the mess in the dug-up ground and, after 5 minutes, confirmed that the monsters’ corpses turned into dust and disappeared. Then I exchanged positions with another guard and headed to Seoul.
“Let’s check it out.”
In the back of the nearly empty bus, I finally had some time to open the status window that I had been waiting for so eagerly.
I whispered the word hunters often used.
“Open status window.”
[Status Screen]
[Name Han Sang-woo]
[Level – 3]
[Unique Trait – Ruler of Higher]
[Strength: 8]
[Agility: 7]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Stamina: 8]
[Mana: 2]
[Unique Skill – Lv 1. Character Summon]
“Hmm? Why is my level 3?”
The letters were arranged like a game information screen.
But something was off.
I had heard that when you awaken, you start at level 1, but my level was 3.
At first, I thought the number might be wrong, but it wasn’t.
[Character: Taeseng GilgeoI has defeated the Ashen Rock Bear (E).]
[The Lord’s Trait, Independence, is activated.]
[Obtained 10 times the experience points.]
[Level has increased!]
[…….]
[Character: Taeseng GilgeoI has defeated the Giant Ashen Rock Bear (E).]
[Obtained 10 times the experience points.]
[Level has increased!]
[Obtained +1 to all stats.]
Traits.
Unlike skills that need to be actively used, traits are abilities that hunters naturally possess, similar to passive skills in a game.
I clicked on the trait among the translucent characters.
Soon, various information was displayed:
[Unique Trait: Ruler of Higher]
[Acquire various effects through the unique trait.]
[Trait 1: Command – Can control summoned characters with orders.]
[Trait 2: Composure – Does not lose composure in any situation.]
[Trait 3: Independence – The lord is an existence that cannot be under anyone else. When forming a party with someone of higher level, acquired experience points decrease by 99%. On the contrary, when soloing monsters, acquired experience points increase by 1,000%.]
“All of these traits are great!”
All three of the lord’s traits were excellent.
Command allowed me to control summoned characters, Composure kept me calm even in the face of monsters, and Independence…
“This one will be amazing for soloing!”
The trait that instantly increased my level from 1 to 3, in other words, was an incredible privilege. Obtaining 10 times the experience points when soloing monsters was way beyond just being beneficial in an experience event. In the hunter’s world, leveling up from level 1 by defeating just one or two monsters was not easy. Experience points were not displayed as a number, and the required experience points for leveling up also varied depending on the individual.
But defeating just a dozen or so monsters and reaching level 3 was truly an enormous privilege.
Of course, the trait had more to offer.
I didn’t have to worry about soloing dungeons anymore.
[Unique Skill: Lv 1. Character Summon – Summons characters cultivated in Higher.]
With the skill [Character Summon], acquired as the ruler of Higher, it seemed possible to summon other characters as well.
Just a while ago, Taeseng gilgeoI demonstrated immense destructive power. With such strength, soloing dungeons was no longer impossible.
Moreover…
[Summoning characters from Higher. The number of summoned characters and the number of stored characters increase with skill level. Basic mana consumption is 2 when used. Maintained mana varies depending on the level of summoned characters.]
[Current Summoned Characters: (0/1)]
[Owned Characters: 11]
[Available Summoning Count: 0]
Looking at the skill composition and additional explanations, it seemed that raising the skill level would allow me to summon other characters.
I finished checking the status window and skills and opened Higher, entering the character selection screen.
Then…
(Lv 999, 2015)
<......>
Five max-level characters and three sub-characters greeted me.
The embodiment of my efforts, competing for the top two rankings in each profession.
Not long ago, it was just a game, but not anymore.
Because the level of the game characters could now be unleashed in the real world.
The current world’s highest-ranked hunters were Carl Jace from the United States and Li Shaofeng from China. Both had been certified as SSS-rank hunters, the highest rank in the hunter grading system, and were rumored to be in the early 700s in level.
On the other hand, Taeseng gilgeoI’s level was 999.
Being max level in Higher, Taeseng gilgeoI’s level was much higher than the world’s strongest hunters.
It still needed further verification, but based solely on the level, Taeseng gilgeoI was stronger than the world’s top hunter.
But what if I could summon all the other characters as well?
Even the SSS-rank boss monsters, which were said to be undefeated, might become manageable when facing against Taeseng gilgeoI’s demonstrated power.
No, not just monsters.
I could become more than just the world’s strongest hunter, a title that falls short.
I would become the lord of the world’s best hunter corps.
“All right, let’s give it a try.”
Inside the bus heading to Seoul, I looked at the characters displayed on the game screen and raised one corner of my mouth in satisfaction.
