Dong Bongsu tried to grab the skills with his hand and place them in the skill hotkey bar, but it didn't work.
These three techniques were all passives, meaning they were applied automatically without needing to be actively used.
It wasn't that he didn't know this; he was just doing it to be sure.
Whoosh, swish, thwack.
He immediately picked up his sword and tried swinging, thrusting, throwing, and blocking with it.
Then, he checked the proficiencies right away.
They had all risen by 0.1%.
This meant that if he repeated these actions a thousand times, the proficiency Level would become Lv.2.
It was an obvious fact that it would gradually become harder to Level Up after that.
Thus, he had discovered yet another way to become stronger.
He would have to raise the Level to see what kind of effect it had, but this method surely had its own advantages.
The fact that he could become stronger without necessarily having to hunt would bring a great advantage in playing the game.
He swung the sword around a few more times before closing the Skill Window.
Now, there was only one blinking window left.
《Quest》
This was the part Dong Bongsu had paid the least attention to since starting New Murim Online.
Not only had the Quest Window not been activated until now, but it also didn't seem like any quests would appear.
Click.
Hoping it would be different this time, he pressed the final window, the Quest Window.
At that moment.
Beep-.
> [SYSTEM MESSAGE]
> Critical ERROR AH! Critical ERROR HAH! Critical ERROR occurred!
> The NPC required to proceed with the quest does not exist!
> Since there is no NPC, the quest cannot be progressed!
A flashing red light appeared with a loud warning sound, and the error message ran rampant through his mind.
'No NPC, huh.'
It was clear now.
The fact that various errors were occurring due to the gap between reality and the system.
To be precise, only the Murim Online system and the character named Dong Bongsu were implemented under the physical laws of this reality or the unique martial laws of this place.
If interpreted in that sense.
The reason for the particularly severe critical error message in the Quest Window was obvious.
Unlike Skills or Stats, this was happening because the original template, the NPC, which could be modified by the system, did not exist in this 'Murim' to begin with.
Dong Bongsu didn't know much about games, but he knew enough to understand that quests were the core storyline that ran through the entire game.
Since a problem had occurred with something so important, it was only natural for the system to make such a fuss.
This problem would likely never be resolved unless beings called NPCs spontaneously appeared in this Murim in the future.
He immediately closed the Quest Window to block the mechanical sound from chattering any further.
He caught a glimpse of a few activated quests, but seeing the X mark in front of all of them, it was certain that none of them could be progressed.
They were merely activated; without an NPC, they would be of no real effect.
No matter how loudly the warning sounded, it was all happening within his interface, so no one in the Danri Family could hear it, but the noise was by no means welcome.
When the sense of hearing is overly activated, the other senses naturally weaken.
The five senses and instincts must always manifest in a balanced way.
Because that is much more advantageous for survival.
Just like that, without any hesitation, he abandoned any lingering attachment to quests.
Only then did the world become quiet again.
That quiet surrounding was his own world, New Murim Online.
In reality, it was a real world where the term 'Online' didn't fit at all, but seeing that a system was implemented, it could be considered so to some extent.
"Hoo---"
His head throbbed just from that brief ringing sound from a moment ago.
Dong Bongsu took a deep breath and collected himself.
He had finally, more or less, finished confirming the things he had gained from his first Level Up.
Now was the time to organize them in his mind.
Diring-diring-.
Just as he was about to organize today's gains.
A strange bell sound rang in his head.
> [SYSTEM MESSAGE]
> The activation condition for Spiritual Eye has been met. Spiritual Eye will now be cast automatically.
> [SYSTEM MESSAGE]
> An enemy with a Level difference of 10 or more has approached within 20 meters. 19, 18, 17.................
Diring-diring-diring, diririririring.............
As the numbers decreased, the bell sound grew more and more urgent.
'Is this......? Some kind of early warning system?'
From the message that appeared as a hologram and the urgent bell sound, Dong Bongsu could deduce the effect of the Spiritual Eye.
To enhance the game's realism, Murim Online made all monsters and enemies as similar to reality as possible to create a sense of substance.
It was programmed so that, unlike existing 3D online games, one could not know an NPC's Level or health just by looking.
Naturally, all information about NPCs was also controlled.
By doing so, they attempted to differentiate it from existing 3D online games.
Experience, attempt, clash, and break to find out.
Find enjoyment in that.
That was the motto of Murim Online.
Nowadays, much about Murim Online had been uncovered, and information was being shared through the internet, but because of this 'differentiation policy,' many people connecting to Murim Online for the first time would recklessly charge at enemies without any information and end up dying.
This policy had always been maintained, and it was the same now.
It was the same for the Testers.
They, too, like regular players, struggled against and were exposed defenselessly to monsters or enemies they faced for the first time.
That was why a Tester Exclusive Skill was necessary.
Skills like that, which drastically reduced Testing time while making the Testing efficient and realistic.
Among them, the one that maintained a middle ground between the realism and efficiency of Testing was the skill Spiritual Eye.
Spiritual Eye was a skill that induced more realistic Testing by giving Testers only a minimal warning about danger, instead of complete information about the opponent.
By having this skill, Testers could approach and observe enemies they had no information on more cautiously and in more detail.
Furthermore, this very Spiritual Eye also served the role of reducing the time needed for Testing by decreasing pointless character deaths.
Seventh Sense.
The moment Dong Bongsu understood the effect of the Spiritual Eye, that word came to his mind.
The sixth sense was a sense based on uncertain premonitions or omens, but the Spiritual Eye went beyond that, scanning all enemies within a 20-meter radius and giving a warning; was that not truly a remarkable thing?
He possessed a sixth sense that was second to none, and now he had even obtained a Seventh Sense.
The five senses, the sixth sense, and the Seventh Sense.
He, Dong Bongsu, was gradually becoming a monster.
> [14, 13, 12, 11]
In the meantime, time continued to pass, and the 'enemy' detected by the Spiritual Eye was continuously approaching the stable.
However, Dong Bongsu was not particularly worried about it.
The Spiritual Eye was surely programmed to scan anyone who was approaching.
Also, the original targets of the scan would be the NPCs of Murim Online, not the user.
Monsters, bosses, and so on.
But he was the only user here, and actual Murim Online NPCs didn't even exist.
No, perhaps there were some that were implemented, but if so, the system would have informed him.
Through a systemic method, like a quest alarm.
In that case.
That is 'this place's NPC.'
The people of this place.
And if it came with a warning sound indicating danger, it was nine out of ten a Martial Artist.
And if it were a Martial Artist approaching now, 'It can't be an enemy.'
Dong Bongsu judged that the approaching 'enemy' was not an enemy.
> [10]
The count passed 10. Meaning, they had approached within 10 meters.
Dong Bongsu remained composed.
He simply stood up slowly from his spot.
The reason Dong Bongsu judged the approaching 'enemy' not to be an enemy was its movement speed.
Putting aside the fact that there weren't many people bold enough to infiltrate the Danri Family in the first place, an enemy who secretly infiltrated the Danri Family would not be moving so slowly.
That meant the one currently approaching was a master within the Danri Family.
And a higher and stronger one than he thought.
He still didn't know exactly how significant a 10 Level difference was.
However, considering the effort and the cost of lives it took to reach Level 2, he could infer that it was quite large.
If he were to kill only ordinary people until he reached Level 10, just how many would he have to kill? Thousands? Tens of thousands?
Perhaps.................. 'Hundreds of thousands?'
He couldn't even calculate it, nor could he imagine it.
It was a person who had grown strong through training equivalent to the cost of that many lives.
Such a person was approaching.
His mind was quickly narrowing down the candidates.
At the same time, Dong Bongsu immediately put all the basic equipment he was wearing into his Inventory and took out the clothes he originally wore to put them on.
A method of directly ejecting them from the Inventory to wear them should have been possible, but he still couldn't control the Inventory with that much precision yet.
> [5, 4, 3]
In an instant, Dong Bongsu had returned to the original Ma-ah-sam.
Dazed eyes, a plain face, a slightly open mouth, and shabby clothes.
Even if So-sam came back to life, he wouldn't be able to tell who between himself and Dong Bongsu was the real So-sam.
Squeak-.
The old door swung open, letting the moonlight seep in, and two long shadows were cast inside the stable.
A middle-aged man with his hands behind his back and a man in his twenties with a solid build followed them into the stable.
They were none other than Gi Daehyo and Gi Manji.
The two had been investigating the Suicide Plague all day long and had only just returned to the Danri Family.
They had come to this humble stable for their final investigation, and as soon as Gi Daehyo entered, he got straight to the point without much ado.
"Are you So-sam?"
"......"
Dong Bongsu was faithful to his role as a mute, so he remained silent, just blinking his eyes with a startled expression.
In truth, he wasn't very surprised, but on the outside, his expression was one of complete shock.
Dong Bongsu knew Gi Daehyo and Gi Manji well.
For the past few months, in addition to preparing to Level Up, he had also studied every nook and cranny of the Danri Family.
The core of that was the investigation of its people.
The moment he saw Gi Daehyo, he realized the man had come to find him because of the Suicide Plague.
The face he had now was just one of several fake faces he had prepared.
The candidates for the 'enemy' he had narrowed down in that brief moment were three.
The Danri Family Head, the Black Crow Corps Leader, and the Heavenly Sword Cross Corps Leader.
He was prepared to act according to whichever of the three it was.
And he was also simultaneously thinking about the reason they would have come.
In the end, it was the Black Crow Corps Leader, Gi Daehyo, who entered the stable, and he was adjusting his facial expression accordingly.
And.
There was only one reason for the Black Crow Corps Leader, Gi Daehyo, to come here now.
"Did you kill Machil?"
The death of Machil.
That was all.