Time?
Why was she asking?
Surely she was not asking me on a date.
“May I ask why you’re asking whether I have time?”
“Ah, it’s because I owe you my life after what happened today. I wanted to treat you to a meal as a way of expressing my gratitude.”
Ah.
So that was the reason.
To be honest, I appreciated that she had not forgotten the debt she owed me, but for some reason, the invitation felt burdensome.
“If it’s simply to thank me, then your sentiment is enough.”
At my words, Han Gain looked slightly disappointed.
Good grief. Even her disappointed expression was extraordinarily beautiful.
Most celebrities would not even be able to compare to her.
If Han Gain ever tried to seduce someone with her looks, I doubted there was a man alive who could resist.
“To be completely honest, I also intended to offer you a position in our clan while expressing my gratitude.”
Oh.
A recruitment offer?
Han Gain belonged to the Seolhwa Clan, one of the Five Great Clans of Korea.
I was deeply moved by her proposal.
The man who had once cried after being dumped by his girlfriend had already grown enough to receive a recruitment offer from one of the Five Great Clans!
Ahem.
I calmed my shoulders, which had begun rising with pride, and answered her.
“I’m not planning to place myself under any organization yet. May I consider the offer before giving you an answer?”
“Ah, yes. Of course. I wasn’t trying to pressure you. Please think it over carefully and contact me when you’ve decided.”
“Yes. I will.”
Honestly, the offer from one of the Five Great Clans was tempting.
However, I did not believe the time had come to join any organization.
That conviction only grew stronger as I discovered more of the Sage Trait’s true potential.
‘The capacity of my Trait is far too great to remain confined within Korea.’
It belonged on the world stage.
If I allowed myself to be drawn into the comfort of the Seolhwa Clan right now, I might end up placing shackles upon myself.
In any case—
We concluded the conversation neatly.
Afterward, we quickly finished clearing the dungeon.
We collected the Golem Cores, which were practically equivalent to Magic Stones, from the fallen Goblin Golems.
Then we left the Hidden Stage, entered the original Boss Room, and challenged the dungeon boss.
“Skree, skree!!”
The boss of this dungeon was a Level 4 Goblin Priest.
Why was the dungeon boss only Level 4 when the Hidden Bosses had been Level 10?
Ordinarily, a boss monster appeared at a level appropriate for the dungeon’s Recommended Level.
The Hidden Stage had been exceptional.
In other words, clearing that Hidden Stage should normally have been nearly impossible.
Yet we had overcome its absurd difficulty.
The Goblin Priest emerged with more than a dozen Elite Goblins.
However—
‘Easy. Far too easy.’
After fighting five Hidden Bosses, they felt almost laughably weak.
As a result, it took us less than five minutes to sweep through all the monsters in the Boss Room.
HUMMMMM!!
Once the dungeon was cleared, an exit portal leading outside appeared inside the Boss Room.
We carried the unconscious Park Changwon and threw ourselves into the portal.
SHIIIIING!!
Pure white light engulfed my vision.
The Experience gained within a dungeon was only calculated after leaving through its ‘Exit’ portal.
[Congratulations. Your level has increased!]
The System message rang out the moment we emerged from the dungeon.
‘Oh!’
I had leveled up after clearing only a single dungeon at Level 3.
The five Hidden Bosses must have granted an enormous amount of Experience.
‘Then again, defeating five Level 10 boss-class monsters should naturally be enough to level me up.’
The exhilaration of leveling up swept through my body.
A flood of dopamine poured through my brain, making me tremble.
Han Gain blinked at me.
“Did you level up?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Wow! Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Han Gain.
She had seemed so aloof at first.
Was it because we had crossed the boundary between life and death together?
Unlike her initial impression, she was now treating me with remarkable warmth.
‘People are right when they say beauty is a weapon.’
Having a woman as beautiful as Han Gain act so friendly toward me naturally improved my mood.
People truly did have an advantage when they were handsome or beautiful.
Oppa! Men have to take care of their appearance these days too. Why were you born with such a good face if you’re just going to neglect it?
A remark my ex-girlfriend once made suddenly flashed through my mind.
For the first time in my life, I wondered whether I should begin paying more attention to my appearance.
In any case, that could wait.
Putting the distracting thought aside, I checked my Status Window.
Since I had leveled up, I needed to see how my Stats had changed.
[Name] Kim Hajun
[Trait] Sage (10-Star ★★★★★★★★★★)
[Level] 4
[Stats]
Strength: 8
Agility: 8
Vitality: 9(+5)
Magic Power: 2(+5)
Mental Power: 16(+5)
[Special Skills]
1. Sage’s Aura (10-Star): Special Skill. Amplifies the power of Magic Power by 10(+1.1) times. (Scales with Mental Power)
2. Sage’s Sight (10-Star): Special Skill. Sees through the truth.
*Passive - Sage’s Senses
[General Skills]
1. [Mythic] Thunderbolt (1-Star ★)
2. [Common] Mana Bolt (1-Star ★)
‘Oh!’
After checking my Status Window, I secretly clenched my fist.
The Magic Power Stat I had been waiting for had finally increased by one point.
‘Without the Tome of the Sage, I would only have 2 Magic Power at Level 4.’
If this were a game, I would have been the most hopelessly defective character imaginable.
I shook my head at my grotesquely poor Magic Power growth rate.
My desire to complete the <Philosopher’s Stone> as quickly as possible burned even more fiercely.
“Everyone worked hard today.”
We decided to distribute the dungeon loot according to each person’s contribution and conclude the expedition.
They suggested clearing another dungeon together, but after briefly considering it, I refused.
Why?
‘With this much gold, solo clearing is completely possible.’
As long as I could obtain enough Mana Potions—
I was the emperor, Archmage, and god of the first floor.
With the Mythic-grade Thunderbolt and Sage’s Aura, there was nothing to fear.
Forget the impoverished past when I could not even afford a Lowest-Grade Mana Potion!
I had now earned enough gold coins to purchase a small house on the first floor of the Sky Tower!
I intended to arm myself with Mana Potions and level up at tremendous speed.
Therefore, my time with parties ended here.
From now on, it was time to enter the reign of the solo-clearing king.
“That’s unfortunate. Then I’ll contact you again once your reward is ready!”
Han Gain promised that she would repay the debt she owed me for saving her life and would contact me once the reward had been prepared.
To be honest—
I had initially refused.
But if she continued insisting, what could I do?
Since the Seolhwa Clan was one of the Five Great Clans, I was also deeply curious about what kind of reward they would offer.
I found myself looking forward to it.
‘But this is what I’m truly excited about.’
I grinned as I thought of the ‘Jewel Cube’ carefully stored against my chest.
I wanted to hurry home and open it.
What would appear?
Since it was a Legendary-grade Jewel Cube, it should contain at least a Heroic-grade item or skill.
Ideally, I wanted something Legendary.
I began heading home with excitement in every step.
Then I suddenly remembered a man I had forgotten.
‘Will that man be all right?’
Park Changwon.
The man whose greed had led to an unfortunate accident.
He had suffered injuries severe enough to kill him if Han Gain had not intervened.
The moment we left the dungeon, we sent him to a treatment center on the first floor.
I wondered what had happened to him.
A treatment center on the first floor of the <Sky Tower>.
“U-UAAAAARGH!”
The balding man thrashed violently upon a bed.
“Ascender Kim! Patient Park Changwon is having another seizure!”
“Damn it!”
The healer addressed as Ascender Kim used ‘Light of Healing’ on Park Changwon.
SHIIIIING!
Park Changwon’s seizure gradually subsided.
“Phew……”
The healer shook his head while looking at him.
“His post-traumatic stress disorder is too severe. Continuing his life as an Ascender will be difficult.”
Park Changwon.
As the price of his greed, he was forced to retire from the life of an Ascender.
“Phew!”
After returning home, I filled an empty bowl with water and knelt reverently before it.
I was about to pray.
What kind of prayer?
‘A prayer asking for something good to emerge from the Jewel Cube.’
Legendary grade.
Preferably a skill!
Please grant my wish!
“Grant my prayer!”
When I began praying, Aleon manifested from the bracelet.
Tsk tsk. You are making a complete fool of yourself. Praying will not make anything good appear.
“But I feel more at ease when I do this. And I genuinely believe prayer has an effect.”
What effect? If anything, your ridiculous behavior will taint your luck and turn a Legendary reward into a Heroic one.
“Yes, yes. We’ll see who is right!”
Now I felt strangely competitive.
Did he not realize that my fervent prayers had helped me obtain the <Sage> Trait?
In any case, Aleon reacted to my behavior with complete cynicism.
I ignored him and continued praying.
Thirty minutes later—
I wiped away my sweat and placed the Jewel Cube before me.
“Now is the time for you to answer my prayer!!”
Good grief. How many times must I tell you that it does not work that way?
I lightly ignored Aleon’s words.
“I’m opening it!”
I twisted the Jewel Cube and opened it.
SHIIIIING!
Rainbow-colored light poured out of the Jewel Cube.
The radiance wrapped around my body and formed a rainbow halo behind me.
“Wow.”
Regardless of everything else, the sight was beautiful enough to remain engraved in my memory.
I felt as though I had become an angel of light.
Completely captivated by the magnificent scene, I could do nothing but admire it.
A moment later—
The colors of the light gradually faded.
Something with a translucent surface floated before my face.
“T-This is!”
……!
A single card emitted a golden radiance.
A Skill Card!!
And it was Legendary grade!!
[You have obtained the ‘Water Bomb (Legendary) (1-Star ★)’ Skill Card from the Jewel Cube.]
T-This is insane. It actually worked?
“Bwahahaha! I told you it would work!!”
I held the golden card with both hands and danced joyfully.
Aleon alternated between staring at me and the golden card with a dumbfounded expression.
So even Aleon could make a face like that.
A-Ahem. At the very least, you were born with astonishing luck……
Bwahahaha.
It was not luck.
It was the power of prayer.
Unable to suppress my laughter, I immediately learned the skill.
[You have acquired the ‘Water Bomb (Legendary) (1-Star ★)’ skill.]
Oh.
What kind of skill was it?
After immediately checking its information, I learned that it created an enormous sphere of water and detonated it, dealing heavy damage to surrounding targets.
[Water Bomb]
Grade: Legendary (1-Star ★)
Element: Water
Magic Attack Power: 80
Special Effect 1: Explosion radius can be adjusted (0–10 m)
Special Effect 2: Elemental Combination available
Special Effect 3: Penetration +50
Special Effect 4: Can be divided
“Could this be combined with Thunderbolt?”
My body began itching with anticipation at the thought of using Water Bomb in actual combat.
At this rate, I might become addicted to dungeons.
Suppressing the urge to return to one immediately, I used some of the gold coins I had acquired to purchase several Lowest-Grade Mana Potions.
With these, my preparations for clearing dungeons alone were complete.
At daybreak the following morning, I immediately rushed to the <Sky Tower>.
[Congratulations. Your level has increased!]
I achieved the remarkable feat of reaching Level 5.
[You have reached Level 5.]
[The conditions have been fulfilled. A Special Skill from the <Sage> Trait will be granted.]
Along with the message—
A small tree resembling a hologram appeared before me.
It looked remarkably similar to the God Tree on the first floor.
“W-What is that? Is it the God Tree?”
No. This is Yggdrasil, the World Tree of Pangaea.
“……!”
This was Yggdrasil?
As I stared in astonishment, waves of golden light began rippling before me.
The waves were composed of Yggdrasil’s leaves.
Hundreds of leaves began slowly orbiting my body in perfect order.
You must choose one of them.
Excuse me?
I had to choose from these?
Was this another random draw?!
Master, did you not clearly say that reaching Level 5 would grant me a benefit capable of temporarily resolving my pitiful mana capacity?
Correct. I did say that.
Then how was I supposed to know which of these would help with my mana problem?
Was I supposed to close my eyes and choose one at random?
Of course not. How could that possibly suffice?
Aleon grinned as he spoke.
Then he continued.
At this moment, I can assist you one more time. Use Sage’s Sight.
I immediately activated Sage’s Sight.
Aleon lightly snapped his fingers, and a refreshing chill spread through my eyes until they nearly stung.
Then—
I saw them.
“Ah!”
Countless symbols engraved behind the golden leaves.
A castle, a mountain, a sword, a staff, a river, an ocean, a book, a dragon, a demon, an angel……
There was even an Erlenmeyer flask.