3. Mad Blood Rampage(1)
<Blood-Red Claw>
Grade: Rare
Category: Sword
[Attack Power: 30]
▶Bleed effects are amplified by 10%.
▶Upon meeting specific conditions, the item is destroyed.
<Blood-Red Claw> was considerably useful.
It was a dagger that could be handled easily, and on top of that it amplified bleed effects by 10%.
For a Rare grade item, those were excellent effects.
'Higher attack power than the sword I'm carrying. And more than that, it has a hidden effect.'
Judging by the Goblin Chieftain's attitude, as expected, none of them would spill information willingly.
'Good. Nine left.'
With the burning flames at his back, Lee Jin-hyeok started walking.
'And there's no need to worry about information on the Sacred Relic either.'
Grin.
'Jinkwak. By now, that one should be here too.'
***
[You have slain a <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You have acquired 100 points!]
[Your level has risen!]
Five days passed.
The Goblin Chieftains were scattered farther apart than expected, so hunting them down one by one took a long time.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> marvels at your martial power.]
It was rare for a Constellation of <Eternal Flame>'s standing to marvel at a player's martial power.
It could watch a great many players, after all.
Yet the reason it now marveled at Lee Jin-hyeok was singular.
No player that had ever existed in the Tower had pulled off eccentricity(?) like his.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is curious about your past.]
"If the chance ever comes, I will tell you."
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> nods.]
Together with the single Constellation that was the only one watching him in the tutorial grounds, Lee Jin-hyeok went on hunting Goblin Chieftains.
[You have slain a <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You have acquired 100 points!]
[Your level has risen!]
Hunting Goblin Chieftains was getting easier as he went.
Every time he killed one, his level rose and his stats climbed higher.
And they did not rise by 1, either.
By the effect of <Indomitable Star>, they rose by 2.
Which meant he was getting twice the benefit from a level up that anyone else would.
[You have slain a <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You have acquired 100 points!]
From the fourth Goblin Chieftain onward, there was no longer any need to hide himself and assassinate them.
He killed one more, and arrived at a village to kill his sixth.
"Surrender! Surrennnnnder. Unconditional surrender. Only spare my life!"
The Goblin Chieftain leading that village was waving a white flag.
"I, Jinkwak, surrender unconditionally!"
Seeing him, Lee Jin-hyeok snorted with laughter.
'Found him.'
Grin.
"Jinkwak."
It was a matter of the future, but Jinkwak was the being who would become the 'Goblin Lord' that ruled over every goblin.
He possessed no special ability, and he was even on the frail side compared to the others.
So how had he become the Goblin Lord who ruled all goblins?
The secret was intelligence.
That was right.
Whether it was a mutation or something else, Jinkwak possessed a mind sharp enough to rank among the top three of all the beings Lee Jin-hyeok had ever seen.
'You know what, Lee Jin-hyeok?'
'I can talk with monsters and animals, right? So I found out something funny.'
'That's right. Jinkwak, the Goblin Lord we beat down. Turns out that bastard was originally one of the Goblin Chieftains in the tutorial.'
Lee Jin-hyeok knew several of Jinkwak's traits.
It was thanks to teaming up with Russell and fighting Jinkwak for days on end.
'Jinkwak's iron rule is simple.'
Swish.
'He moves strictly and only in whatever direction profits him.'
It was precisely because of that, in fact, that Lee Jin-hyeok could make use of Jinkwak.
"Surrender, is it."
With Jinkwak's intelligence and cunning, he could easily have laid a trap, but Lee Jin-hyeok walked into the village without a care.
In the current situation, the only traps a Goblin Chieftain could lay were curses or status ailments.
And those did not work on Lee Jin-hyeok at all.
'And if I walk in this boldly.'
Grin.
'Jinkwak's spirit will only be crushed further. He'll think I'm doing it because I'm strong.'
Sure enough, the moment Lee Jin-hyeok arrived, Jinkwak flattened himself against the ground.
"Yes. I surrender. Only spare my life."
Jinkwak smiled obsequiously.
"Spare me, please!"
To survive, this one chose submission over resistance against Lee Jin-hyeok.
He had read the situation exactly.
"Why should I spare you alone? I'd have to go to the trouble of hunting down the other chieftain bastards."
"I will tell you where the other chieftains are!"
"......."
That was certainly a gain.
The Goblin Chieftains were scattered far apart, and tracking them down one by one cost enormous time and stamina.
"That is not all! Lady <Blood-Red Hair>'s Sacred Relic! I know where it is!"
Offering up the Sacred Relic at once, without even being asked.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is dumbfounded by Jinkwak's attitude.]
There was no way a Constellation would look upon such a sight kindly.
"You seem to know quite a bit about me."
"But of course."
Jinkwak was different from the other chieftains, who built villages without a thought and hunted humans mindlessly.
He planted goblin spies of his own in the other villages and gathered information.
Thanks to that, he knew everything that was happening in the area.
"Because I picked off only the chieftains, your spies in the other villages survived, and that's how you worked me out?"
"Yes!"
He did not merely know the fact that Lee Jin-hyeok was strong.
He had also learned that 'curses' and 'flames' did not work on him at all.
He knew that neither he himself nor the power of any goblin could win.
And he had learned that Lee Jin-hyeok was searching for a 'Sacred Relic.'
So he made his choice.
To save his own life, even if it meant selling out the Sacred Relic.
"You can definitely bring me the Sacred Relic?"
"But of course."
Jinkwak smiled.
"Once you have dealt with the remaining Goblin Chieftains, I will have it ready. Heh heh."
As if he had been waiting for it, he spread out a map.
'This one.'
Looking at the other chieftains marked on the map, Lee Jin-hyeok smiled.
"Cunning, as expected."
"Heh heh heh......"
From the geographical features, he saw it at once.
This one intended to absorb the goblin forces that had lost their chieftains and make them his own.
Even with his life on the line, he had grasped exactly what the other party wanted and proposed a deal built on it.
'So he didn't become a Goblin Chieftain on nothing but quick wits after all.'
In any case, from Lee Jin-hyeok's position it was a deal with nothing to lose.
He would learn where the other chieftains were and obtain the Constellation's item as well.
"Good. We start there."
***
[You have slain a <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You have acquired 100 points!]
"Done."
The ninth Goblin Chieftain was dead.
GAAAAAHK!
SCREEEEECH!
As always, the goblins scattered in every direction, and another goblin band began to close in around them.
"Your chieftain is dead! Follow me now!"
Gaaahk......
Screeech......!
Only an individual with special power could become a Goblin Chieftain.
So the goblins that had lost their chieftain submitted to Jinkwak at once.
"My congratulations."
Jinkwak bowed his head to Lee Jin-hyeok.
"You made things easy."
It was not empty praise.
As if to prove his loyalty, Jinkwak led his own goblin band and pressed in on the goblins of the other villages.
Thanks to that, Lee Jin-hyeok could face each Goblin Chieftain one on one, alone, and dispose of them.
If you were going to betray, betray wholeheartedly and take the maximum profit and trust from it.
That was the strategy Jinkwak had chosen.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is left speechless by your conduct.]
'Looks like this is a first even for it. Constellation or not.'
In the tutorial, it was hard even to find a player who 'ran into' a Goblin Chieftain.
And yet here was Lee Jin-hyeok, joining forces with one Goblin Chieftain to hunt the others.
Even for a Constellation with long years and much experience, a player pulling off eccentricity(?) like this in a tutorial was a first.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> feels great curiosity toward you.]
That seemed to be what had drawn its interest so strongly.
"That makes nine. One left for you."
When Jinkwak clapped his hands, the goblins behind him brought out a Sacred Relic held in a heavy chest.
It was an enormous axe with a blade the red of blood.
"As promised, here. The Sacred Relic."
Thanks to Lee Jin-hyeok wiping out the other chieftains, the goblin forces guarding the Sacred Relic had thinned.
Thanks to that, Jinkwak had been able to retake the Sacred Relic with relative ease.
"Good."
When Lee Jin-hyeok laid a hand on the axe, a hologram window rose up.
[You have acquired the Sacred Relic <Blood-Soaked Axe of Light>.]
<Blood-Soaked Axe of Light>
Grade: Sacred Relic
Category: Axe
[Attack Power: ???] [Vitality +???]
*This option can only be used by a Follower of the Constellation <Blood-Red Hair>.
▶*This option can only be used by a Follower of the Constellation <Blood-Red Hair>.
▶*This option can only be used by a Follower of the Constellation <Blood-Red Hair>.
▶*This option can only be used by an Apostle of the Constellation <Blood-Red Hair>.
'Sacred Relic' written in place of the grades running from Common to Mythic.
Options that could not be used unless one was an Apostle or a Follower.
It was a Sacred Relic, without a doubt.
'And it happens to be one I already know of.'
Lee Jin-hyeok asked.
"What if I take the Sacred Relic and kill you? Why hand it over so obediently?"
"When we first met, if I had not talked you around, the great one would have killed me anyway."
Swish.
"I had no options to begin with. Even if I die now, it is the result of doing my very best, so I must accept it."
"......."
Jinkwak's strategy was simple.
He created the situation with the highest probability of survival.
"You did well."
After looking at him for a moment, Lee Jin-hyeok started walking.
A promise was a promise.
There was no need to break it and kill him.
"Travel safely! I look forward to seeing you again!"
Jinkwak had gained enormously from this cooperation as well.
He had been able to gather his forces considerably faster than before the regression.
'Jinkwak has ability.'
Grin.
'More than enough for me to make full use of him later.'
Jinkwak was the Goblin Lord who could handle and unite goblins even without Lee Jin-hyeok's help.
If he let him live, he could be of great help later in the fight against <Pure Radiance>.
'And he's still nothing more than a Goblin Chieftain for now, so he won't be much of a threat.'
***
Far off, out of sight of Jinkwak and the goblin band.
Lee Jin-hyeok gripped the <Blood-Soaked Axe of Light> in his hand.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is curious about your next move.]
'I mean to check how good a Constellation's body really is, but.'
Swish.
'It won't imagine this.'
Whether the Constellations were watching him or not made no difference at all.
As he climbed the floors, the fact that he could use a 'Constellation's power' would spread anyway.
'Even <Pure Radiance>, who made this body, won't see this coming.'
Grin.
'The very idea of making a body that could copy a Constellation's power is something it only comes up with years from now.'
After muttering that to himself, Lee Jin-hyeok activated the skill.
[Activating the skill <Stellar Archive>.]
[Required points: 0 points.]
[0 points consumed.]
[The item <Blood-Soaked Axe of Light> is destroyed.]
CRACKLE—!
A cluster of starlight rose from Lee Jin-hyeok's hand and began to resonate with the <Blood-Soaked Axe of Light>.
After a period of vibration, the Sacred Relic vanished like smoke.
[You have acquired the skill <Mad Blood Rampage>.]
[The skill <Stellar Archive> is promoted to Rare grade.]
{Skill}
<Mad Blood Rampage>
Grade: Unique (Constellation)
▶For 10 minutes, all stats held are amplified fivefold.
▶For the same duration, one stat of your choosing is amplified tenfold.
Cooldown: 12 hours.
*On activation, you fall into the <Frenzy> status ailment.
*After activation, you fall into the <Exhaustion> status ailment for 72 hours.
Common, Rare, Epic, Heroic, Legendary, Mythic. Those were the grades the Tower had laid out.
The unique power that only Constellations possessed did not belong to those 'grades.'
In the system's own phrasing, it amounted to a Unique grade.
'Depending on the Constellation's power, it could be worse than Common or better than Mythic.'
And it went without saying that <Mad Blood Rampage> was a skill of tremendous value.
'That's right. Search the whole Tower.'
Swish.
'And you won't find a skill that raises stats multiplicatively, by a full tenfold.'