“Hey, you’re back? That took quite a while.”
As I ended the connection, Suhyeok got up from the sofa as though he had been waiting for me.
He had apparently tidied up, taken a bath, and changed into pajamas.
“If it took that long… you must have drawn a dungeon, huh?”
“Correct.”
“A dungeon is perfect. It takes time, but it gives you plenty of experience.”
A dungeon took a long time to clear, but it also offered more chances to contribute, so its rewards tended to be generous.
“So which dungeon did you get? At your Level….”
As Suhyeok stroked his chin and considered it, I looked at him and slightly raised the corner of my mouth.
“Underground Prison, Floor 131.”
“…Huh?”
He blinked.
It was obvious that he did not believe me.
“Isn’t that a dungeon that only appears once you’re at least Level 20?”
“That’s right.”
“But you got matched into that place at Level 6?”
His brows curved into the shape of the Chinese character for eight—八.
That roughly meant, Are you seriously expecting me to believe that?
“Seeing it once is better than hearing about it a hundred times.”
I laid out the armful of equipment I had received from the team members.
[Minotaur’s Courage Pauldrons] (D)
[Minotaur’s Wrath Gauntlet] (C)
[Minotaur’s Wrath Cloak] (C)
[Minotaur’s Wrath Cuirass] (D)
Items that could only be obtained by defeating the Minotaur in Underground Prison.
After checking their condition and names, Suhyeok’s face lit up.
“What the hell?! What is this?”
“What do you think? I told you I wasn’t lying.”
“Y-You really went to Underground Prison?! And since you got equipment…!”
“That’s right. I cleared it.”
“This is insane!”
I could understand why he reacted that way.
It was surprising enough for a Level 6 to enter Underground Prison, but I had even returned with boss equipment.
It was like a three-year-old robbing the largest bank in the world.
While holding a baby bottle instead of a pistol.
“No… all right. Even if I concede that a hundred times, why are there so many rewards? Even if you clear it, each person only gets one piece of equipment.”
“Oh, that. I got them from the others.”
“You got them?”
“Yep!”
“…….”
His brows looked ready to bend again, so I immediately added an explanation.
I told him everything that had happened in the dungeon without leaving out a single detail.
“Whaaaaat?”
Unfortunately, instead of stopping his brows from bending, I only made them twist into an even stranger angle.
“Jaeha… No matter what, that’s too….”
“Come to think of it, one of the team members was a streamer. You can just watch the broadcast.”
“A streamer? What was the name?”
“Taeya, I think?”
“…Taeya?”
“You know him?”
He looked as though he did, so I asked.
“A little. He was one of the rookies our team was keeping a close eye on because he seemed to have some skill and game sense. We gave up because he was on the verge of signing with Eclipse… Ah, this is confidential, all right?”
I mimed zipping my lips shut.
“Anyway, he has a fairly large audience, so if something like that happened, there’s no way I wouldn’t know….”
Suhyeok picked up the tablet on the table and turned it on.
The moment he unlocked it and entered the video platform—
DING! DING! DING!
Notifications rang continuously as recommended videos rapidly appeared.
[HOT Now!] <Underground Prison Strategy Revealed Live!>
[HOT Now!] <Taeya Stream Clip: Is This a Level 6’s Command Ability?>
[HOT Now!] <Taeya Stream Clip: Level 6 Leader’s Cool Moments Compilation>
[HOT Now!] <Clipped the Minotaur Boss Battle Scene>
“W-What?!”
Suhyeok stared at me with wide eyes.
I did not answer and merely shrugged.
With a trembling finger, he selected a video and played it.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Boss Battle footage played on the screen.
Players above Level 20, including Taeya, moved according to my commands.
My face and name had been mosaicked out, but anyone who knew me could recognize me at once from the details left visible—my clothing, the way I swung my club, and more.
[Comments]
-Is this for real?
-I was watching the livestream until just now, and this isn’t staged LOL. Seriously, this was the most entertaining stream I’ve watched recently.
-Isn’t this the first time the Underground Prison strategy has been revealed? This is huge.
-Who the hell is that Level 6 Warrior?!
-He’s swinging that club like it’s a twig… Damn.
-I’m an aspiring professional-team coach. That Warrior’s commands are truly perfect. I can feel the gap between us….
The comments continued to update.
People lured in by the keyword, ‘Underground Prison Strategy Discovered!’ saw me and reacted with even greater shock.
“Uh… Uuuh…?!”
Suhyeok’s mouth was open so wide that it looked as though his jaw might fall off.
As he blankly watched the video, his phone began to buzz.
“Y-Yes, hello….”
-Coach Jeong Suhyeok! Did you see that broadcast?
“The broadcast…?”
-An Underground Prison strategy has been discovered! But the person who discovered it is a Level 6 Warrior! We’re continuously analyzing the broadcast footage, and this Warrior’s ability is no joke. We need to make contact before anyone else does!
“I-Is that so?”
As Suhyeok answered the phone, his gaze slowly turned toward me.
-If anyone comes to mind…
“No! I don’t know him! I said I don’t know him!”
-Uh, okay… Why are you denying it so firmly? You’re making me feel awkward.
“Hahaha! If there were a rookie that amazing, I would want to know him too!”
-…Anyway, let’s not let another team take him this time. I’ll contact Taeya’s side first and identify that Warrior as much as possible. Coach Jeong Suhyeok, contact me immediately if anything comes to mind!
CLICK!
Once the call ended, Suhyeok collapsed onto the sofa like a man who had lost his soul.
“Jaeha….”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“Is this a dream…?”
“Probably not.”
For some reason, he looked even more unreal than I had when I regressed.
Suhyeok’s flood of questions cost me an entire night.
In the end, we decided to pretend that Suhyeok did not know my identity.
‘I don’t want to cause trouble for Hyung.’
That said, I did not intend to hide my strength or ability unnecessarily from now on.
The professional-league market was a place where you needed to market yourself.
If I tried to play the part of a pearl buried in mud, people would say, ‘Hm, this pearl has too much mud on it. We’ll reduce its value by around 50%.’
Instead, I had to take the pearl out, polish it until it shone, decorate it nicely, and get more than its proper worth.
‘The higher my standing becomes, the more I can extract from teams that want to scout me!’
That did not mean I intended to go on television or broadcast platforms and declare, ‘I’m that bastard!’ anytime soon.
It was more efficient to connect to the Channel one more time and raise my Level instead.
“An awl in a bag, as they say.”
If I continued to perform in ways that drew attention, interest would gather around me whether I liked it or not.
So instead of getting distracted by playing the part of a popular star—
-BEEP! Verification complete.
—I should do what needed to be done right now.
ZIIING—
When I registered my keycard, the door opened to reveal a moderately sized training room.
I had reserved the public rental training room closest to my brother’s place.
“All right, then—”
First, I equipped the Minotaur Set I had obtained from the dungeon.
The gauntlet, pauldrons, cloak, and cuirass made me look fairly put together.
At least no one would laugh at my equipment anymore.
‘The Minotaur Set is extremely useful in the early stages.’
I would not have to worry about equipment for a while.
Except for one thing.
‘A weapon.’
“I need a weapon to receive the Set Effect….”
The Minotaur Set required all five pieces of equipment to activate its Set Effect.
Unfortunately, the only thing I lacked was the weapon.
I had hoped that a weapon would come from my own reward.
“All I got was this box.”
Even now, it was strange.
I had never heard of anyone receiving a box as an Underground Prison reward.
‘Did discovering the strategy first, combined with all my achievements, let me overcome some extremely low probability?’
Half doubtful, I opened the box’s information.
[Box Containing the Minotaur’s Soul] (A)
▶A box containing a warrior’s soul. The moment it is opened, the soul transforms into a weapon suited to the user.
“Oh? Ooooh?”
Wait a moment, this was a better item than I had expected.
It was A-Grade, but since it was a box, I had assumed it was a random box and had been inwardly disappointed.
‘This isn’t a random box?’
It was closer to a guaranteed selection ticket that would definitely give me the Item I wanted.
What was there to hesitate over?
“Open!”
Smacking my lips, I immediately opened the box.
WHOOOOOSH!
A mysterious aura overflowed from inside.
A bluish-violet mass of light swirled and gradually began taking shape.
[You use 『Box Containing the Minotaur’s Soul(A)』.]
[The soul transforms into the weapon the user desires most deeply!]
The weapon I desired most deeply.
That had already been decided.
FLASH!
I grasped the handle of the fully formed weapon.
[Battle Hammer Containing the Minotaur’s Soul] (A)
▶The soul of a warrior solidified into the form of a battle hammer. Excellent at pulverizing and crushing enemies that block the path ahead.
The heavy sensation fit snugly in my hand.
Once I equipped the hammer, a faint light appeared across every piece of equipment I wore.
[You have equipped specific equipment according to the required conditions.]
[Set Effect activates.]
[Set Effect: Unleashed Warrior’s Wrath]
▶Condition—Equip 5 pieces of ‘Minotaur Equipment.’
▶Strength +2, Stamina +2, Mana +2
As expected, the Set Effect activated successfully.
▶Strength: 11(+2)
▶Stamina: 10(+3)
▶Agility: 9(+1)
▶Mana: 10(+2)
▶Luck: 8(+2)
[Attribute Points: 10]
“Hah!”
An exclamation escaped me as I checked my Attributes.
My Stamina and Strength had reached 10 or more through base Attributes alone, and I had also gained solid additional Attributes from my Title Effect and Set Effect.
Above all, simply looking at the ten Attribute Points was enough to make me feel full.
My growth was not merely smooth. It was as though I had grown wings.
Now, all that remained was—
▶Constitution: Strong Bones(B)
-Physical Attributes receive a bonus.
My Constitution.
The task of evolving ‘Strong Bones.’
‘At present, people believe that once a Constitution is determined, it can never change.’
But that was merely unfounded speculation.
Later, it would be discovered that even Constitutions could evolve or change after meeting special conditions or encountering certain special circumstances.
My Constitution was no exception.
At a glance, it seemed as though it merely made my body tougher and strengthened me.
‘But the moment this Constitution is exposed to a special environment for a long time—’
it reveals its true worth.
I let out a light breath and stood in the center of the training room.
[Gravity Field] (D)
When I activated the Skill, a violet field of Mana formed and heavily pressed down on the surrounding area.
‘I can’t stop here.’
I focused and controlled my Mana.
Then, gradually—
I began shrinking the range of the field.
HUMMM! HUMMM!
The smaller the field became, the denser and stronger the gravity within it grew.
“Urgh…! Ngh…!”
The field continued shrinking.
Gravity so powerful that it made the ground beneath me cave in pressed down on my entire body as though it would break me apart.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
Cracks began spreading across the training-room floor.
My muscles screamed, while the agony of each joint being forced out of place stabbed into my brain.
Then—
[You have entered a high-gravity zone.]
[A Constitution Evolution Quest has been generated!]
The message I had been waiting for appeared before my eyes.
[Constitution Evolution Quest—Trial of Gravity]
: Endure the extreme and transcend your limits, tempering yourself into something stronger. When you reach the end of this ordeal, nothing will dare hold you back.
▶Hammer Swings(0/10,000)
▶Sit-Ups(0/10,000)
▶Push-Ups(0/10,000)
At last.
It was time to leap even further.