Chapter 34

The skeleton archers loaded new arrows and prepared to draw their bows at Jun-sang again. But just then, something rapidly flying smashed the head of one of the skeleton archers with a small explosion. It was Lim Seo-yoon’s precise shot.

Jun-sang took advantage of the opening created by the sniper shot and quickly approached the archers. The archers tried to stop Jun-sang with their bowstaves and daggers, but before they could even properly grip their weapons, they were assaulted by Jun-sang, who was like an enraged wolf.

Thwack! Jun-sang’s leaping leg described a semicircle, and the heads of two skeleton archers within its trajectory exploded and shattered. And with Jun-sang’s subsequent punches, the remaining two archers also suffered broken spines and collarbones, rendering them combat-incapable.

“Open Two-Hit Combo.” Jun-sang fiercely rolled on the ground, crushed the head of a skeleton archer whose upper body had rolled to the ground, then unleashed a Two-Hit Combo on the remaining skeleton archer.

Thwack! As shattered bone fragments flew everywhere and the headless skeleton archer’s head fell weakly backward, Jun-sang turned and looked back at the four skeleton soldiers he had knocked down earlier. However, two of the four skeleton soldiers had already been destroyed by Lim Seo-yoon’s sniping while Jun-sang was dealing with the skeleton archers. Jun-sang charged at the backs of the skeleton soldiers who were focused on raising their shields and guarding against Lim Seo-yoon’s sniping, unable to pay attention to him.

Thud! The skeleton soldier, struck by a fierce, typhoon-like hook, had its head shattered and collapsed. The last skeleton soldier, frantically turning at the sight of its comrade falling, also suffered a broken knee from a surprise low kick. As the skeleton soldier, having lost one leg, staggered and fell, Jun-sang leaped into the air and forcefully stomped on its head, crushing it, thus ending the battle.

“Phew…” He turned his head to look towards the palisade, seeing Jin Sea-ah, an arrow lodged in her shoulder, conjuring the Wall of Fire, and Lim Seo-yoon, standing in front of her, felling zombies with arrows. Lim Seo-yoon suddenly noticed his gaze and gave a thumbs-up.

“…” Jun-sang lightly nodded in response, then moved again to help Seo Yoo-mi and the wolves, who were dealing with the zombies. As he joined in, the zombies, who were already absurdly overwhelmed by Seo Yoo-mi and the wolves, were shattered in no time.

“Phew…” Perhaps because of the numerous loot he had gotten earlier, this time, despite there being casualties, none of the fallen enemies had seeds.

Upon returning inside the palisade, Lim Seo-yoon was pulling the arrow from Jin Sea-ah’s shoulder and applying medicine.

“Ugh…” Jin Sea-ah bit down on a twig, sweating profusely as she forcibly endured the pain.

“Phew… it’s done. You endured well.” “Ugh…” Jun-sang watched them for a moment, then opened his mouth. “I have a proposal.”

“…” The very act of him initiating a conversation was unprecedented, and the fact that it was a proposal made Lim Seo-yoon and Jin Sea-ah’s eyes widen. Jun-sang also gestured for Seo Yoo-mi, who was once again making a fuss trying to clean the Crimson Wolf, to come closer. Seo Yoo-mi started to gesture in refusal but, seeing Jun-sang’s unusual expression, she silently approached and sat next to Jin Sea-ah.

Once everyone was gathered, Jun-sang spoke to them. “I intend to go to a place called the Valley of Death.”

For a moment, people were bewildered, not understanding what Jun-sang meant, but they soon recalled that the undead’s stronghold, mentioned in their earlier conversation, bore that name, and their expressions turned to horror.

“N-no, you’re joking, right?” Jin Sea-ah stammered, but Jun-sang shook his head and replied expressionlessly, “No.” And then he asked Lim Seo-yoon, “You know the location, right?”

Lim Seo-yoon, finding himself the center of attention, replied awkwardly, “Well…” But Jun-sang cut him off and said again, “Didn’t you bring up that topic hoping I’d step forward, Mr. Lim Seo-yoon?”

“Huh?” As Lim Seo-yoon retorted, wondering what he meant, Jin Sea-ah, who was listening, said, “I know you’re strong. But don’t you think leaving this place empty could lead to the quest failing?”

To that, Jun-sang replied nonchalantly, “You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll go alone.”

“What?” “Besides, even if I leave, you don’t need to worry about the defense here.” “What do you mean by…”

Jun-sang spoke to Lim Seo-yoon again. “That’s assuming this person here reveals all his skills, of course.”

“…” As attention shifted to him again, Lim Seo-yoon replied with an awkward expression, “It seems there’s some misunderstanding…” But this time too, Jun-sang cut him off again. “You said you have two inventories, didn’t you?”

“That’s correct, but…” “What’s in the other inventory?”

“…” Only then did Jin Sea-ah and Seo Yoo-mi realize. The cabinet he had shown until now only occupied one of his two inventory slots. Jun-sang continued, “Moreover… there was a hunting knife in the cabinet you initially brought out, wasn’t there?”

Lim Seo-yoon nodded with a serious expression. “That’s right.” Jun-sang, after hearing his answer, continued, “Even though you’re using a crossbow now, a crossbow capable of that kind of lethality isn’t something one would normally carry around in daily life.”

“…” “In other words, you didn’t have a crossbow during the tutorial. So, here’s the question.” Jun-sang paused for a moment, then stared directly at Lim Seo-yoon and posed the question. “How exactly did you clear that difficult tutorial?”

Jin Sea-ah involuntarily took up Jun-sang’s line of thought. “Was it with that hunting knife?”

Jun-sang nodded and said again, “Firstly, inventory is a feature that cannot be obtained through normal play. The fact that you obtained it in the tutorial means you likely didn’t just quietly pass through the forest with a torch.”

“…” Lim Seo-yoon began to scratch his forehead with his finger, and Jun-sang looked at him and said, “Is any of the above incorrect?” Along with Jun-sang’s words, Jin Sea-ah and Seo Yoo-mi also focused their gaze on Lim Seo-yoon.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake…” Lim Seo-yoon, scratching his forehead in embarrassment, stepped back from them for a moment, then conjured two cabinets out of thin air. The first cabinet, as seen before, was packed with a crossbow, a hunting knife, and crossbow bolts. The second cabinet was crammed with an unknown type of rifle, a pistol, a large rocket launcher and its ammunition, and finally, objects of unknown purpose, likely explosives.

“…” Jin Sea-ah and Seo Yoo-mi were too astonished by the sudden appearance of modern firearms to say anything for a moment. The first question that came to mind was how on earth he had acquired such things, but they lacked the courage to even ask that. Lim Seo-yoon gave them a wry smile, then stowed the cabinets back into his inventory, bowed respectfully, and introduced himself.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself. The combo card I’m using is ‘Calcas’s Weaponmaster’. As the name suggests, you can think of me as an expert in weapon usage.”

Then, Seo Yoo-mi, who had been quietly listening, raised her right hand and said, “Question!”

“Please speak.” “What’s a combo card? And what’s a Weaponmaster?”

“…” Lim Seo-yoon looked surprised. “I didn’t expect Ms. Seo Yoo-mi not to know, let alone Ms. Jin Sea-ah.”

“…” That surprised Jun-sang as well. To be honest, he had fully expected her combo card to be something like ‘Crazy Bitch‘ or ‘Serial Killer‘. At the two men’s reactions, Jin Sea-ah now asked, “Is that… a good thing?”

Lim Seo-yoon smiled and nodded. “Yes. If the power you can achieve with normal cards is 70 percent, then you can understand that once a combo card is completed, it can achieve 100 or even 120 percent efficiency.”

“Ah…” “As the word ‘combo’ suggests, it’s a method of combining multiple cards to produce a more powerful effect. I can’t go into details, but in the case of Weaponmaster, it’s activated by combining four skill cards.” Lim Seo-yoon said that, then turned to Jun-sang and asked, “What combo card are you using, Mr. Jun-sang?”

Jin Sea-ah and Seo Yoo-mi looked at Jun-sang with expectant expressions, but his lips remained tightly sealed, refusing to move. Jin Sea-ah, after waiting for a moment and confirming he had no intention of answering, turned her head and grumbled, “So full of himself, really.”

However, Jun-sang knew that this gentle-eyed man, Lim Seo-yoon, had been probing him from the very beginning, so he had no intention of revealing his information. His probing, such as stimulating Jin Sea-ah to inquire about his level, was so natural that even Jin Sea-ah, the one being used, didn’t realize she was being manipulated.

Once the discussion about combo cards was more or less finished, Jun-sang spoke again. “Mr. Lim Seo-yoon.”

“Yes.” “What you want is an additional reward, isn’t it?”

“…” Lim Seo-yoon gave a wry smile and nodded. “The fact that you know that means Mr. Park Jun-sang also has experience getting additional rewards.”

“…” Jun-sang didn’t answer, but Lim Seo-yoon sighed deeply and shook his head. “Phew… it’s hard to deny when it’s exposed like this. Mr. Jun-sang is completely right.” And then he smiled at Jun-sang again and said, “I thought I hid it quite well… you have incredible insight. Well, that’s probably how you gained such strength.”

Then Jin Sea-ah, who had been listening from the side, raised her hand again. “What are additional rewards?”

Lim Seo-yoon readily explained. “The quest objective stated in the initial message is just the most basic information. But as you progress through the actual quest, hidden quests or sub-quests are sometimes concealed. For example, in the tutorial, there was a hidden quest to annihilate the beasts living in the forest when passing through it.”

“Ah…” After explaining to Jin Sea-ah, Lim Seo-yoon looked at Jun-sang and asked seriously, “As you said… if I use all my abilities, fortifying and defending this place wouldn’t be a problem, even if an offensive isn’t feasible.”

“That’s good.” “However, it’s also true that I’m worried. I’ve seen multiple times that you are a strong individual, but clearing the Valley of Death alone is truly perilous. You could easily find yourself isolated among numerous enemies. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

To that, Jun-sang quietly replied, “Are you asking because you’re truly worried?”

“…” “Stop with the unnecessary talk and just give me the map.” Lim Seo-yoon gave a wry smile and pulled a map with the location of the Valley of Death recorded on it from his pocket, handing it to Jun-sang.