Chapter 18

Upon observing the level-up phenomenon on his body, Jun-sang finally rose from the monstrous bear’s neck.

“…” Although the fatigue had dissipated with the level-up, it was only by looking at the colossal, cooling corpse of the monstrous bear that Jun-sang realized the absurdity of what he had just accomplished. He somehow felt like roaring, but Jun-sang simply clenched his fists, looked up at the sky, and trembled, expressing his triumphant exhilaration. After closing his eyes for a moment to savor the rush coursing through him, Jun-sang opened his phone to check the level-up message and drew a random card.

Card Information Name: Shoulder Charge Level: 1Lv Experience: 0 Grade: Common+ Category: Skill Growth: Normal (Small) Attribute: None Effect: Strongly charges into an enemy with the shoulder, dealing 150% of current attack damage. (Cooldown: 4 seconds) Cost: 10 Seed: 2 slots

“Not bad.” His offensive skills had been limited to Bite and Two-Hit Combo, so this was a useful addition. It would be difficult to use when all slots were full, like with the ‘Mad Dog’ combo, but it would be useful when there was an empty slot, like with the ‘Berserker’ combo. Of course, it was inconvenient to change the card slot contents every time he used it, but he could easily endure that much.

After receiving his reward, Jun-sang pondered how to deal with the monstrous bear’s corpse. He felt it would be a waste to just leave it behind.

“Will it fit?” Just in case, he tried putting it in his inventory. And to his surprise, it slid right in!

“Oh!” If something of this size could fit in instantly… it meant he could carry vehicles like cars or motorcycles in his inventory. This discovery utterly dismissed his earlier complaint that ten slots were too few. Why hadn’t he tried this sooner? Jun-sang clicked his tongue at his foolishness but decided it was fortunate he knew now.

After putting the monstrous bear’s corpse into his inventory, Jun-sang first unsummoned the Will-o’-the-Wisp, which was too conspicuous. Then, he checked the quest details again.

“Hmm…” In truth, the annihilation of zombies wasn’t the real objective of this quest. The true goal was to eliminate the mysterious “source of darkness” to remove the cause of the zombie outbreak itself. But Jun-sang had no way of knowing what the source of darkness was. If he knew its general form, he’d search for it, but since he knew nothing beyond the phrase “source of darkness,” for now, he had no choice but to wander the forest, hunt zombies, and search for clues.

“…” Jun-sang pondered while looking at the quest details on his phone for a moment, then ordered the Crimson Wolf to find zombies again. The Crimson Wolf, its red fur fluttering, once again took the lead and began to run.

Running behind the red wolf, Jun-sang soon discovered a zombie fighting something. A small, gnat-like creature was scattering tiny light particles and shooting something at the zombie. However, the zombie, when confronting it, merely waved its hand slowly as if annoyed, not genuinely trying to fight.

“…” He watched for a moment, wondering what it was… when he started hearing a voice that sounded like a young girl.

“Yup! Yup! Hey, you bad guy! Go away quickly!” “…” Could it be that the monster bear’s blood he was covered in earlier had radiation mixed in? Jun-sang frowned for a moment, then decided to take down the zombie first.

“Berserker.” As Jun-sang’s lips quietly moved, the cards previously in the slots withdrew, and new cards took their place:

Rampage, Blood-Soaked, Blood-Soaked, Blood-Soaked (R).

And finally, as the combo card ‘Janthunsen’s Berserker’ activated, Jun-sang quietly spoke again.

“Open Shoulder Charge.” Then, the Two-Hit Combo card, which had filled the remaining slot, withdrew, and the Shoulder Charge card was inserted in its place. With all preparations complete, Jun-sang tucked his arms to his sides and shot forward. The zombie, flailing its arms sluggishly to swat away the gnat-like thing, was ambushed without even realizing Jun-sang had burst out of the bushes.

Jun-sang activated Shoulder Charge at his full running speed. Then, an unknown, astonishing aura formed around his body, and he launched himself at the zombie like a cannonball.

Thwack! The moment the zombie’s body collided with his shoulder, Jun-sang felt the reanimated corpse’s chest cave in. The zombie, directly hit by the Shoulder Charge, couldn’t withstand the impact and was sent flying backward, then crumpled upon impact. Jun-sang himself was surprised by the intense destructive power, but he immediately approached the zombie rolling on the ground and crushed its head with his military boot.

“Phew…” Thinking he had gained a surprisingly good skill, he rummaged through the zombie’s crushed head when he suddenly felt a stinging sensation on the back of his head, like a mosquito bite. He instinctively raised his empty hand and slapped the back of his head, and a startled scream rang out.

“Kyaaah!” “…” Only then did Jun-sang turn his head to look in the direction of the sound. There, the gnat-like thing that had been bothering the zombie earlier was buzzing around. No, it was a gnat, but it was peculiar. A little girl with red hair was attached where the insect’s body should have been. Seeing her, Jun-sang thought of a word.

“Fairy?” Then, the little girl said, “Hmph! If you’re talking about me!” But Jun-sang didn’t let the girl finish and raised his hand, snatching her wing.

“Aah! What are you doing, you ruffian!” Then the little girl struggled, shooting out light particles. When they hit him, they stung like an insect bite, then began to swell up.

“…” He wasn’t sure, but thinking it would be quite unpleasant if it hit his eyes, Jun-sang released the wing he was holding. Then the fairy sat on the ground and began to cry.

“Sniff sniff… I haven’t even gotten married yet, and my wing was grabbed… What do I do… Waaah…” “…” “Me, a descendant of the Hero Fairy, having my wing grabbed by such a ruffian… Sob sob sob…” “…” He didn’t know what a Hero Fairy was, but Jun-sang decided to finish what he was doing first. The fairy immediately shut her mouth upon seeing him rummage through the zombie’s head, but unfortunately, this zombie had nothing.

“Hmm…” As Jun-sang stood up, the fairy spoke with a suspicious expression. “You… who are you?”

“And who are you?” Jun-sang retorted, and the fairy puffed out her tiny chest and replied, “Hmph! If you’re talking about me!” “…” “I am Inia, the great warrior of the fairy folk, a descendant of the Hero Fairy!”

Jun-sang felt like it would only get troublesome if he kept talking, so he silently turned away. But Inia had no intention of letting Jun-sang go.

“Aah! Wait!” “…” “How can you just leave! You have to listen to me first!” “…” “J-just a moment! Don’t ignore me!” But the moment Jun-sang turned his head towards her, Inia flinched, intimidated by his gaze. Jun-sang took that opportunity to grab Inia’s wing again.

“Aah! He grabbed my wing again!” “What did I say I’d do if you were noisy?” “…” Inia quickly covered her mouth with both hands. Jun-sang looked at Inia indifferently, then released her wing and was about to instruct the Crimson Wolf to find a new target.

“J-just a moment…” Inia spoke cautiously, her voice fearful. “Did you come to get rid of those monsters?”

“What if I did?” “T-then please help me.” “…” Just then, a message notification sound rang from his phone. Jun-sang opened his phone, hoping it wasn’t what he thought, but his prediction was accurate.

(Sub) Grant Inia’s Request. : Inia is a fairy who lived in this forest, but she is troubled by the sudden appearance of the source of darkness. Grant her request and obtain a special reward.

“…” Jun-sang looked at the quest details for a moment, then at Inia. Inia then began to smile brightly, acting cute. Jun-sang couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at her charming antics.

“What’s your request?” “Hmm, well…” Inia hesitated for a moment, then said, “Actually… I dropped my magic staff while being chased by those monsters. Please find it for me.”

“Staff?” “Yes. It’s about this big. A pretty staff with a red gem embedded in the middle.” “Do you know where you lost it?” “W-well… Hehe…”

He felt like it was going to be troublesome, but then he looked at the Crimson Wolf waiting for his command nearby, and his mind changed. Jun-sang reached out and grabbed Inia’s wing again.

“Kyaah! He grabbed my wing, again!” “What did I say I’d do if you were noisy?” “…” Inia quickly covered her mouth with both hands. Jun-sang brought Inia close to the Crimson Wolf’s nose and commanded, “Track this scent.”

“Hieeeek!” Inia squeezed her eyes shut and trembled as the Crimson Wolf brought its nose close to her and sniffed. But the red-furred wolf immediately began to run somewhere, following her scent as Jun-sang had commanded.

Jun-sang placed Inia on his shoulder and said, “Hold on tight.”

“Huh?” Inia looked flustered, but as Jun-sang immediately began to run like the wind behind the Crimson Wolf, she had to desperately cling to his collar.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa!” “Quiet.” “Hup!” The Crimson Wolf faithfully carried out Jun-sang’s command. Thanks to it, Jun-sang soon found Inia’s magic staff lying in the grass. He might not know for sure, but without the Crimson Wolf, he would have had a hard time finding it.

“Woohoo! My magic staff!” “…” Inia jumped up and down with joy, and as the magic staff was placed in her hand, a message arrived on his phone again.

(Sub) Grant Inia’s Request. : Inia is a fairy who lived in this forest, but she is troubled by the sudden appearance of the source of darkness. Grant her request and obtain a special reward. -> Completed! Reward: Inia’s Special Gift. Please receive this reward directly from Inia.

Jun-sang closed his phone and said to Inia, “Is that all?” “Yes! Thank you so much!” Inia bowed to Jun-sang, then darted over and lightly kissed his forehead.

“…” Jun-sang was slightly flustered by Inia’s sudden action, but a new message came onto his phone, so he checked that first.

‘Fairy’s Kiss’ has been imprinted. : A kiss containing a fairy’s favor grants you luck. This is an imprint and will never be erased. ‘Fairy’s Kiss’ appeals to other fairies that you are a friend of the fairies.

“…” Was this the special gift? Jun-sang stroked his forehead where Inia’s lips had touched and asked again, “Do you know where the source of darkness is?”

“Yes! Of course! I’ll help you!” “…” Inia said that, then quickly flew to Jun-sang’s shoulder, gripped his collar tightly, and said, “That way! That way!”

“…”

“I’m ready! Come on, let’s run!”

“…”