Chapter 103

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 103

Chapter Title: Status Manipulation Skill

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Seeing Yejin's shocked expression the moment she laid eyes on my status window made me feel a quiet swell of pride.

"O-Oppa! Is this for real? Strength at 10 and Magic Power at 19!?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"But... didn't you say you're a Black Magician? I get why Mental Power would be high for that, but... why's your Strength so high too?"

The status window listed Mental Power as the stat for handling Magic Power, which could make someone think it was tied to magic. But Magic Power was a totally different concept from the mana or Demonic Energy I knew.

Magic Power seemed to be the energy source Awakeners needed to activate their skills, but I couldn't use it for my black magic. On the flip side, Demonic Energy wasn't consumed when using skills either.

That said, they weren't completely unrelated. Both Seoyoon and I had noticeably higher Mental Power than others, which felt like the system administrator had adjusted our stats accordingly.

Explaining all that in detail sounded like a hassle, though, so I decided to brush it off.

"You ever hear of a Battle Mage?"

"Battle Mage? What's that?"

"Guess you don't game much. It's a type of mage who can handle close combat too. That's basically me."

Yejin nodded with her mouth agape, like it all clicked.

"Come to think of it, yeah. You did use magic, but it felt more like you were just smashing zombies than blasting them with spells. You only really cast when there were tons of them."

"Can't just burn through Demonic Energy on black magic willy-nilly. You never know when or where you'll need it, so you gotta stockpile."

"That's so cool... So, will Seoyoon end up hunting zombies with black magic like you do later?"

I shook my head slightly at Yejin's question.

"Doubt she'll reach my level of advanced spells. It'll depend on how hard she pushes herself."

Of course, I had no intention of skimping on full support to help Seoyoon master proper black magic.

If not, I wouldn't have shared practice Demonic Energy with her or carved out special time just for training.

Anyway, morning had come. Time to get moving.

First off, I had tasks for Sohee and Ha Dong-seok.

"Yejin, head upstairs and get Sohee for me? Tell her to come outside."

"Sohee? Um... sure~"

Yejin sat up in bed, gathered her scattered clothes, slipped them on, and headed out.

I got dressed too, then stepped outside and made my way toward Ha Dong-seok and his crew.

Ha Dong-seok was drilling his men like they were in the army, putting them through morning runs to toughen them up.

Our eyes met as he jogged by.

"Ah, Jaehwan-nim! You lot, keep circling!"

"Yes, sir!"

Spotting me approach, Ha Dong-seok ordered his men to keep running and jogged over.

"Morning. Looks like you're training the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠troops."

"Guns make zombies easy pickings, but one-on-one? Not so simple. Figured they need the strength training, so we've been exercising."

"Doesn't matter to me how you do it—as long as you kill zombies and rake in coins. Bullets holding up, though? Weren't you getting them from that Rat guy before?"

I remembered the Rat having the Weapon Crafter trait and handling ammo supply, so I asked.

Wondered if anyone could fill that role now.

But Ha Dong-seok's darkening expression said no.

Ah, right—didn't Seoyoon have the Weapon Crafter trait?

Plus, I had the Bullet Crafting skill that Sohee had brought back last time.

Hand that over to Seoyoon, and she could handle ammo production.

"Hey, you're not critically low on bullets right now, right?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Got it. I'll sort that out, so don't sweat it—just focus on zombie hunting. More importantly, I've got a job for you... Ah, there she is."

Glancing back, I saw Sohee emerging, still rubbing sleep from her eyes, yawning as she shuffled out.

"Yaaawn~ Why'd you call me out here all sudden? Got some chore?"

With Sohee here now, I filled them both in on the dungeon stuff from our trip to Yeouido yesterday.

Both perked up with curiosity at the mention of dungeons, eyes sparkling.

"So... to sum up, this world's got these things called dungeons swarming with zombies. We Awakeners clear 'em by wiping out every zombie inside, and we get some kinda reward?"

"And on top of that, a cleared dungeon goes inactive for a week, turning it into a safe zone."

They both got it perfectly on the first go, thanks to my crystal-clear explanation.

Repeating myself endlessly to thickheads is quietly exhausting.

"Spot on. So the job's simple: scout out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those dungeons I mentioned."

"Knowing the locations would be huge. Clearing one weekly's basically free extra rewards. Got it—we'll prioritize dungeon hunting while zombie-slaying starting today."

Ha Dong-seok raised a hand like he had a question.

"Jaehwan-nim, once we find a dungeon, just memorize the spot and report back?"

"That means... can you guys clear it yourselves?"

Ha Dong-seok nodded.

I could guess his angle. Why just note locations when his crew could clear it too? Sounded better.

Not wrong. More efficient than me trekking everywhere solo. Let Sohee or Ha handle clears and hand over rewards.

Yeah, efficient.

"If you can clear it on your own, go for it... but skip high-difficulty ones—report those to me. Assume anything difficulty 3 or higher is beyond you."

Thinking back to the difficulty 3 dungeon I cleared yesterday, it seemed too tough for their level.

Zombie hordes pouring out wouldn't faze them much, but that first mutant zombie boss? Tricky.

Without Sohee's ranged attacks, it'd be brutal. Ha's guns with his crew might struggle tracking that fast mover.

Better I step in than risk injuries from reckless tries.

Difficulty 1 should be a breeze for them, probably.

Difficulty 2? Untested even by me.

"That rough? Even for me or this uncle here?"

"Difficulty 3 could be. 1 seems easy. 2... who knows, give it a shot. But if it feels like death, turn tail and bolt—no looking back."

"Duh, obviously."

Sohee couldn't abandon her mom Mi-young, so she'd bail at real danger.

"Oh, and if it's just 'find dungeons, bring rewards,' you'll lose steam. So, half the rewards from dungeons go to you guys. But all first-clear rewards come to me."

"What? You serious?"

"If you insist, we're grateful, but..."

Both looked stunned that I'd share coins. Not like I'm coin-obsessed.

"Gotta give you repeat rewards to stay motivated, right? Spend your cut however."

Sohee'd use hers for self-upgrades or paying debts.

Ha Dong-seok for his lagging subordinates, probably.

I brought this up partly to show some generosity to my people.

Plus, first-clear rewards mattered more than repeats anyway.

Repeats were likely just coins, but first clears? Probably special items.

Monopolizing those would suffice.

"And Jaehwan-nim, here's the coins from yesterday's zombie hunts around the area."

"Yeah, good work."

The 112 coins from Ha Dong-seok weren't impressive.

Blame my zombie wave sweep making the gap look huge.

"And we got this."

Ha handed over a skill-granting orb.

"Mutant zombie yesterday, huh? Any good?"

"To be honest... doesn't seem useful to me. Figured it wouldn't suit you either, so was gonna toss it, but brought it back since we earned it."

Curious what skill could underwhelm him that much, I checked it out.

Oh, what's this?

I could tweak my status window when showing it to others?

Perfect—I'd always hated flashing my real stats.

And sure, someone with higher Mental Power might see through it, but almost no one outstats me there. They'd never spot the fakes.

He brought back something insanely useful.

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