"Slow down and eat them one at a time! You'll choke."
-Waaah! Waaah!
GULP!
[Fire(EX) hurriedly stuffs a Highest-Rank Mana Stone(S) into his mouth!]
[Fire(EX) tells you not to worry because there is no chance of him choking!]
"Ah, right. I suppose there's no way you'd choke."
The number steadily increased as he ate.
[Highest-Rank Mana Stone(S): (4/25)]
I really was ridiculously lucky.
Who would have thought there would just happen to be a Sandworm burrow underground?
And one containing twenty-seven S-Rank Mana Stones at that!
'That gives me twenty-nine in total, so I'll even have four left over. I wonder how much Hunger they'll fill.'
While I waited for Fire to finish eating, I decided to check the newly unlocked Research.
Research, furniture, and even the Space Expansion Stone I had not started working on yet.
There was certainly a lot to do.
Research seemed more important than the others for now, so I checked it first.
……Spirit Shelter 'Research' can be unlocked by solo-clearing E-Rank Gates (0/20)
"Oh, that's simpler than I expected."
If there had been nothing else to do today, I had planned to craft more furniture.
I could work on Research first instead.
I had already been promoted for E-Rank Gate access yesterday, so all I needed to do was go.
"And it'd be nice if I could gather materials while clearing them too."
-An excellent choice. E-Rank Gates contain many materials.
"Then what about the solo clear requirement?"
-Impossible.
"Damn it."
I would have to focus solely on clearing E-Rank Gates today.
There was no helping it.
If I tried to get both things at once, I might end up accomplishing neither.
Better to secure at least one for certain.
E-Rank Gates were no different from F-Rank Gates.
I simply had to enter and use Hellfire or Meteor.
There were also fewer Hunters in E-Rank Gates, so finding untouched ones should be easier.
I was just about to search for E-Rank Gates with the Hunter-exclusive app when—
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) gives you a thumbs-up and says these are the best Mana Stones he has ever eaten!]
All twenty-five S-Rank Mana Stones had disappeared without a trace.
Both his appetite and eating speed were unparalleled.
System messages immediately appeared.
[Highest-Rank Mana Stone(S): (25/25)]
[You have successfully fulfilled the condition!]
[Skill, 'Hell Spear(EX),' acquired!]
<Hell Spear(EX)>
Description: A spear of hell is fired, annihilating the target.
❰Fire(EX) Lv. 10❱
❰Possessed Skills: Hellfire(EX), Meteor(EX), Hell Spear(EX)❱
❰Hunger: (10,530/1,000,000)❱
……A new skill will be unlocked upon reaching Lv. 15
……Lee Chanyoung will unlock a new skill upon reaching 1,000,000 Hunger
……Spirit Shelter 'Research' can be unlocked
"Done! Hell Spear?"
Even after reading the description, I could not quite picture it.
Hellfire and Meteor were familiar enough concepts that I had understood them immediately.
But this one—
"A spear from hell? Is it a single-target attack?"
-You have understood correctly. A spear of hell flies toward a target and annihilates it, regardless of what that target may be.
"I was lacking concentrated firepower, actually."
Hellfire and Meteor were already outstanding in terms of destructive power.
And there was no need to even mention their range.
But when I encountered higher-ranked monsters, there were occasionally cases where I had to use them several times before the enemy died.
The Sandworms were one example.
A single-target skill like this would be useful.
There would be no need to carefully adjust the power every time either.
I could test it inside an E-Rank Gate.
Just as I was about to leave, I felt an intense gaze from beside me.
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) demands all the remaining Highest-Rank Mana Stones too!]
Even if they had not filled his Hunger, he had just eaten twenty-five S-Rank Mana Stones.
He really was bottomless.
I needed to find out how much Hunger they restored anyway, so I gave him the remaining four.
One disappeared in an instant.
❰Hunger: (210,530/1,000,000)❱
"That's insane!"
It had filled 200,000 Hunger.
Four times as much as an A-Rank Mana Stone.
I supposed it lived up to its price.
That left three S-Rank Mana Stones.
Since I only needed another 800,000 Hunger, I could probably level him up today.
-Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) asks you to obtain lots of high-ranked Mana Stones!]
[Fire(EX) says how wonderful it would be if he could eat delicious Mana Stones while filling lots of Hunger at the same time!]
"You think I don't know that? They're just hard to get."
One cost one hundred million won.
Even when I overwhelmingly cleared a Trial Tower floor, I could only obtain a few.
The twenty-seven I had found in the Sandworm burrow had been pure luck.
"Eat them sparingly. We don't know when we'll find more."
-Waaah?! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) hurriedly puts down the Highest-Rank Mana Stone(S) he was about to put into his mouth!]
[Fire(EX) declares that he'll savor delicious things as much as possible!]
"You don't need to go that far. We get a few from the Trial Tower."
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says he'll save them until the next Highest-Rank Mana Stone appears!]
He carefully stored them inside the Spirit Shelter as though they were precious treasures.
Mana Stones did not expire, so I let him do as he pleased.
More importantly, I wondered how strong the Buff Water Purifier's effect would become if I put an S-Rank Mana Stone inside.
An F-Rank Mana Stone gave a 1.05-times effect.
Would an S-Rank one give more than double?
Once I had enough to spare, I definitely needed to try putting one into the Buff Water Purifier.
"Do whatever you want. Let's go. We have Gates to clear."
I was in perfect condition.
I casually threw on some clothes and left home.
At the foot of a hill behind the neighborhood—
The E-Rank Gate I would be entering today glowed blue.
It seemed almost twice as large merely from being one rank higher.
"It's still smaller than a D-Rank Gate. I guess Gates get physically larger as their rank increases."
-The reason they grow larger is because both the quality and quantity of Mana increase.
"Yeah. Thanks."
Clone had taught me another very useful piece of trivia.
That was enough unnecessary information.
I headed toward the Gate.
It had only just appeared, so there was not even an Association employee there yet.
All that had been set up was a sign indicating the Gate and a barricade.
Security was pretty lax.
There should at least have been one Association employee guarding it.
Maybe whoever had been assigned here had suddenly needed to use the bathroom.
That actually worked out better for me.
I could clear it immediately without going through any troublesome procedures.
After checking once more that no one was around, I entered.
A vast plain without a single obstacle spread before me.
[Defeat 1 Black Hobgoblin Captain.]
[Black Hobgoblin Captain: 0/1]
But the objective was strange.
"Huh? Only one?"
I had visited plenty of Gates, but I had never seen an objective like this before.
To think the Gate would be cleared after killing only a single monster.
-This is a Boss Raid Gate.
"Boss Raid?"
-Yes. It is a Gate where only a single Boss Monster appears instead of ordinary monsters. Even if the Gate itself is E-Rank, the Boss Monster will be at least D-Rank or higher.
"Oh, so that's how it works?"
-I recommend forming a ten-person party of roughly equal strength.
In other words, if a normal Gate contained one thousand monsters, all of that difficulty had been concentrated into a single enemy.
This was perfect for testing Fire's newly acquired skill.
"KIEEEEEEE!!"
As if on cue, the Black Hobgoblin Captain appeared.
True to its Boss title, it was five times larger than an ordinary Hobgoblin.
Its entire body, which should have been green, was pitch-black as though it had been charred.
It looked easily beyond E-Rank.
It probably possessed enough strength to rip me apart with its bare hands.
Perhaps it knew that too.
The moment it spotted me, it grinned so widely that the corners of its mouth nearly split apart.
Apparently, being a monster meant it had no idea what was happening.
Unfortunately for you, you're not the one with the advantage here.
"Let's try the new skill."
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) is delighted that he can finally use his favorite skill!]
Fire emerged from the Spirit Shelter and climbed onto my head.
Then he raised both hands overhead and held them there.
Space distorted above him, and a dark crimson spear began forming out of nothing.
The enormous spear of hell finished forming in an instant.
It spun with a deafening roar before shooting forward at the speed of light.
[Fire(EX)'s possessed skill, 'Hell Spear(EX),' activates.]
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
KABOOOOOOOOOM!!
The Black Hobgoblin Captain did not even have time to utter a tiny scream.
In the span of a single blink, it disappeared without leaving so much as a trace.
[You have defeated 1 Black Hobgoblin Captain!]
[Black Hobgoblin Captain: 1/1]
[Black Hobgoblin Captain's Sturdy Hide × 1 has been awarded!]
[Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(C) × 47 acquired!]
[The Gate will disappear in 8 hours!]
[If you do not leave before it disappears, you will disappear along with it!]
The rewards were brief but substantial.
Forty-seven C-Rank Mana Stones was pretty good.
But something else caught my attention.
The fact that the Black Hobgoblin Captain had died instantly was not surprising at all.
The real shock was what had happened in the direction Hell Spear had traveled.
Everything in a perfectly straight line had been destroyed.
The ground.
The weeds.
Even space itself.
The space there blurred as though it had been mosaicked before slowly returning to normal.
-That phenomenon occurs when attack power exceeds the limit a single area of space can withstand.
"Wow. Just how powerful is this thing?"
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says this much is a piece of cake!]
[Fire(EX) pounds his chest and demands an energy bar because he worked hard!]
He meant the energy bars we ate whenever we got hungry while traveling between Gates.
I had come up with the idea because eating proper meals while running around Gates was awkward.
I had brought some for myself today too, but at this rate this bastard was going to eat all of them.
"You used the skill once. What do you mean you worked hard? And didn't you say you hate the taste of processed food?"
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) vehemently denies your words!]
[Fire(EX) says Hell Spear is exhausting because he has to concentrate as much power as possible into the attack!]
"Fine. Here."
Why couldn't he just ask for Mana Stones instead?
You might as well squeeze blood from a stone, you little bastard!
Of course, I had expected this.
I had brought thirty energy bars.
And other food as well.
For a moment, I thought that would be plenty.
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) asks for more!]
"……."
I would have to stop by a convenience store along the way.
Still, the clear had counted properly.
[E-Rank Gate: (1/20)]
Nineteen E-Rank Gates remained.
Before anyone arrived, I hurried toward the next E-Rank Gate.
"I almost crapped my pants. Phew."
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, the Association employee let out a sigh of relief.
A sudden bout of diarrhea had struck him on a hill with no bathrooms anywhere nearby.
No one would ever know how desperately he had clenched his sphincter and struggled to maintain his concentration.
The moment his focus slipped even slightly, disaster would have struck.
But in the end, humanity had prevailed.
'Thank goodness there was a construction site nearby. Who would've thought they'd have a portable toilet set up there? Thank you! Construction workers! I'll be grateful to you even after I die!'
What if there had been no construction going on nearby?
"I don't even want to imagine it!"
He decided not to think about something that had never happened.
Everything had turned out fine, so what was the point?
He focused on the Gate under his supervision instead.
He had been away for five whole minutes.
The rest of his team had gone to retrieve equipment, leaving him alone.
Even with a barricade and warning sign in place, there was no telling what kind of accident might occur.
He returned to the Gate.
Then froze.
"……It's been cleared?"
Faced with something he had never remotely expected, he could only blink repeatedly.