Chapter 21: Achievement Shop
‘There was something like this?’
He had hunted Lee Seoyoon plenty of times before.
But he had never seen a message like this in the past.
‘The Horizon Opener…’
It might be related to that.
Well…
When you thought about it, achieving an EX-rank achievement was a first for him too.
If it was connected to that, it wasn’t so strange for it to pop up now.
Was a shop structured like the status window?
‘Achievement Shop.’
[Achievement Shop unlocked!]
[Rank: Bronze]
[Achievement Points: 30]
[Item List]
[1. Limit Breakthrough Elixir]
[Required Achievement Points: 100]
[2.???]
[3.???]
There seemed to be a lot of items, but he couldn’t see the details.
In the end, only one item was currently viewable.
[Limit Breakthrough Elixir]
[Raises level potential by ‘50’.]
‘Huh?’
What?
What was he looking at right now?
Kim Minwoo rubbed his eyes furiously.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Even so, the text remained the same.
“…Insane!”
―Master, what’s wrong all of a sudden?
“Cedric! Jackpot! Jackpot! This bro just reeled in a monster catch!”
―…Monster catch?
“Yeah, you idiot! Now this big bro can break through level 200 too!”
―…Are there people who can’t?
Unfortunately, this undead couldn’t empathize with his joy at all.
‘This is why those talent freaks are…’
Well, he couldn’t say he didn’t understand.
Normally, just awakening let you hit level 300 easily.
Of course, being able to level up and actually doing it were two entirely different things.
As awakeners got stronger, monsters grew stronger too, especially at higher levels.
To gain meaningful experience, you had to hunt monsters around your own level.
But at a certain point, even same-level monsters became hard to take down.
‘That’s when most give up on leveling.’
Levels 151 to 250.
The infamous stagnation zone known as C-rank.
From C-rank gates onward, even parties had to risk their lives.
Before that, it was like, “Maybe I’ll hit the gate and make some cash?”—heart pounding with excitement.
But from here, it became, “Will I make it back alive today?”—heart pounding with dread as the default mindset.
Anyway.
Cedric didn’t seem to grasp the concept of getting stuck at level 200.
‘Surprisingly, it’s possible.’
A miraculous genius who couldn’t reach level 300, the level even neighborhood F-rank awakeners could hit.
Kim Minwoo was a prime example.
‘Spent six years looking for a way through…’
In the end, he hadn’t found one.
That’s why he’d had to fight the Dragon Lord at level 200.
But now, he’d found it!
‘If I just get the achievement points…’
He could raise his level cap.
And it was a fixed ‘50’ boost—no need to pray like with elixirs.
‘Incredible effect.’
Levels weren’t just a flat +4 to stats.
They tied into gear, skillbooks, and more.
Plus, as a necromancer, his summons’ level caps would rise too.
‘My ceiling’s way higher now.’
Much higher than he’d imagined.
Now, the key was how to earn achievement points. Kim Minwoo recalled the message from earlier.
● Hunted ‘Lee Seoyoon’, one of the side villain roles!
● The story begins to change partially!
‘Side villain.’
At first glance, it didn’t seem like they’d hand out points just for taking down any villain.
Probably needed to hunt villains with real story weight.
Main and side villain hunts.
That would be the first way to rack up points.
‘But they’re tough to catch right now.’
He knew plenty of main and side villains in this game.
The problem was…
Unless coincidences stacked up like today, they weren’t easy to hunt.
Every one was top-tier.
Most spawn locations were random, except a few. Unless he leveled up way more, he couldn’t take them now.
‘Another way to get points…maybe by changing the story.’
A side villain died.
The story shifted, granting points.
Points wouldn’t come just from killing enemies.
‘Influencing key figures?’
This game’s top main characters.
The protagonist types the player could control.
Park Siwoo, Han Sia, Namgung Min, Seo Yerim. Normally, they wouldn’t share the same stage.
But now was different.
The message when stage 6 began.
[All protagonist characters in the game are gathered in one worldview!]
The protagonists existed in this world.
Like Seo Yerim.
‘If I influence them…’
He might score points.
He probably hadn’t gotten any from Seo Yerim because he hadn’t caused a ‘major’ change.
Just some swordplay teasing—nothing game-changing.
But Lee Seoyoon, side role or not, died, erasing her entire story arc.
That’s why it had such a big ripple effect, even as a side character.
Among the four, the easiest to influence was Park Siwoo, the one-star difficulty character.
Returning to his pre-awakening days had rewound time a lot.
‘He should be at the orphanage now.’
Hanbit Orphanage.
That was the place.
‘Still unawakened.’
The point where players controlled Park Siwoo was further in the future.
That’s when he awakened, so he was unawakened now.
Kim Minwoo knew Park Siwoo’s awakening conditions.
And with that message about humanity’s potential improving…
‘If I awaken this guy not as S-rank, but higher?’
He was already a sword genius.
What if that guy hit SS or SSS?
No matter the story, could it stay unchanged?
‘It’ll definitely impact things.’
That would net way more points than Lee Seoyoon.
Easy to approach, not hard to trigger awakening.
No reason not to.
‘If no points…’
He could make a guild and use him as a lackey.
Talent freak—give him decent gear, and he’d power-level himself.
He’d come in handy someday.
‘I’ll swing by after I leave.’
But first, gear up.
He looted Lee Seoyoon’s corpse.
Assassin gear came out.
B-grade, and as a promising talent, the quality was decent.
Sadly, job restrictions meant he couldn’t equip them, so auction house it was.
Should fetch about 30 billion.
And.
“Oh, jackpot.”
He scored a pretty nice item.
[Ring of the Shadow Tracker]
[Grade: Unique]
[Required Level: 51+]
[Effect 1. All stats +15]
[Effect 2. Use mana to track by body heat (C).]
[Effect 3. Critical hit damage +10%.]
“Prime accessory, huh?”
No job restriction, low equip level for the performance. Impossible from regular gates.
‘Cleared a hidden chain quest.’
Had to find hidden conditions, activate the chain quest, and complete it.
“Stuff you can’t buy even with money normally.”
Obviously.
No awakener retiring would sell it—they’d keep using it. Why ditch it mid-growth?
Reason she kept it on despite high level.
Accessories were rare, hard to set up, and assassin + crit damage was a killer combo.
All-stats boost went without saying.
He stored Lee Seoyoon’s corpse and gear in his subspace ring.
Now, time to clear the gate.
His heart raced.
Meeting Lee Seoyoon had let him unexpectedly hit +10 levels.
Now level 40.
Just 11 more to 51.
The threshold to absorb the next elixirs and skillbook. Total power overhaul.
“Let’s go.”
Cedric and the skeleton horde nodded.
* * *
He swept through the gate monsters, raising his level.
[Level up!]
[Reached level 51.]
He hit 51 before the boss room.
Pulled out the low-grade elixirs.
[Low-Grade Mana Pill]
[Grade: D]
[Required Level: 51+]
[Consuming slightly increases mana. (Applies up to 150 base stats)]
Here, ‘stats’ meant base stats, excluding titles and gear bonuses.
Base stats?
Starting base stats + elixir boosts + level-up stats.
All that summed up.
Sometimes training or actions naturally raised them too.
‘Not for this guy.’
Kim Minwoo had never seen his stats rise from training.
Best to ignore that.
Conclusion.
Each stat at 100 per elixir specs.
+50 each.
Total +200 stats.
Royal Road complete.
He absorbed the first elixir.
[Low-Grade Mana Pill absorbed.]
[Incredible! Your horrific body defied extreme odds and fully absorbed the elixir’s effects!]
[Mana +2.]
“No way?”
+2 in one go?
Kim Minwoo gaped at the first-ever message like this.
[Acquired title: ‘Super Lucky Guy’.]
“…And it gives a title too?”
Titles weren’t for chump change, right?
Getting one from a casual message like this.
First time realizing his body had perks.
Checked the effect right away.
[New Title List]
[1. PK Expert]
[Defeated an overwhelmingly superior awakener.]
[Effect: Attack power +10% vs awakeners 200+ levels higher.]
[2. Super Lucky Guy]
[Defied extreme odds to seize luck.]
[Effect: You feel luckier.]
‘Feel luckier, huh…’
Vague effect.
But better than nothing.
He absorbed all the elixirs.
“…The effects are insane?”
He was shocked.
His body took to them amazingly well.
“To pull this off with just 800…”
Compared to level 1, it was clear how huge.
Back then, over 1,000 went in.
Even after buying from Choi Yuna, he’d pulled 200 more from the warehouse.
Could return those now.
“Lucky.”
Really lucky.
Grinning, Minwoo learned the skillbook.
[Skeleton Mage Summon (E)+9]
[Max reinforced skill.]
[Costs 20 mana to summon 2 (1+1) level 1 Skeleton Mages.]
“Nice.”
+9 was always gorgeous. Double mana for skeletons, but worth it for mages.
Time to swap gear.
Unequipped old gear, opened status.
[Name: Kim Minwoo (23)]
[Job: Necromancer]
[Level: 51]
[Held Skills (4/20): Death Lord (EX), Cedric Summon (SSS), Skeleton Mage Summon (E)+9, Skeleton Summon (F)+9]
[Mana: 1,920/1,920]
[Titles: 15]
[Stats]
[STR: 181(+18)] [AGI: 181(+18)] [VIT: 152(+15)] [MAG: 175(+17)]
“Insane.”
Not level 51 stats. And this excluded new gear bonuses.
Ring of the Shadow Tracker, equippable at 51.
Plus the rare set from auction.
[Equipped Ring of the Shadow Tracker!]
[All stats +15!]
[Equipped Reaper of Ruin Set!]
[STR +15, AGI +15, VIT +15, MAG +50!]
[Drain (D) activated!]
Mana ballooned +65, then Indomitable Soul added +6.
Mana stat 263.
Pure mana 2,630.
With Death Lord’s mana cost reduction…
“Rise, my minions.”
[452 Skeletons summoned!]
[300 Skeleton Mages summoned!]
Over 700 rose up. Way too many for just one gorilla boss.