Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: New Enlightenment
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"Have you attained some new enlightenment?"
In the dead of night.
The Lion Statue, silently watching Jae-hyeok perform his forms under the moonlight, couldn't hold back and asked.
"There's a heat in your blade unlike before. It seems impatient at a glance, yet it has a fiery edge that feels rather good. You've grown..."
"Yeah?"
Jae-hyeok was just feeling that his sword hand was especially good today.
More power was flowing into his blade.
It was such a subtle difference that he thought no one else would notice.
Yet the Lion Statue had spotted it instantly.
'This guy's got real insight.'
The Lion Statue had guarded this spot for hundreds of years.
By its own account, it had watched countless boys and girls grow into knights.
No wonder its discernment was unmatched.
"It might be the influence of watching that kid who always burns himself out."
Jae-hyeok recreated the sword stroke he'd just performed.
Slightly more pressure on his big toe than usual, shoulders a touch lower.
'It's Baek Do-jin.'
The Lion Statue immediately guessed the identity of the kid Jae-hyeok mentioned.
Jae-hyeok had been visiting almost daily, chattering about his experiences.
He'd memorized the names of Baek Do-jin, Chae Da-hee, Park Hae-rin, the Archery Club members, and even the first-year Class B students. Sometimes it felt like he'd met them himself.
"You drew inspiration from that kid's swordsmanship. But bold techniques expose weaknesses just as much, so take care."
"Thanks for the advice."
He knew that without being told.
And he'd already sealed off the weakness.
The reason Jae-hyeok's swordsmanship had become 'slightly' bolder was his subconscious judgment that 'this much is fine.'
"But that Park Hae-rin girl performed a Sword Dance?"
"Yeah, something called Yeon? It was unique. It felt like one Sword Dance, yet it shifts endlessly, making each performance look completely different. And depending on the form, the buffs it gives her teammates change too."
Jae-hyeok's voice grew a bit excited.
Dancer.
A rare case even among buffer classes, with scant information available.
Even Jae-hyeok, who'd scoured Player Manager, found the job unfamiliar.
It was definitely rare.
Hae-rin's buffs boosted allies' attack power, defense, speed, and recovery as the situation demanded—practically omnipotent.
If such an incredible job were common, the player industry's difficulty would be far lower than it was.
Fewer deaths or maimings in Gates, for sure.
"Yeon...?"
"Why? You know the skill?"
The Lion Statue's reaction, murmuring the name of the Sword Dance, piqued Jae-hyeok's interest.
The Lion Statue scoffed.
"As if. Didn't you say Yeon gives buffs?"
"Yeah...?"
"Then that's that."
It changed the subject as if it wasn't worth further discussion.
"Speaking of which, I've been smelling that foul stench more often lately."
A putrid reek.
The Lion Statue had mentioned it before.
"Yeah? Has a higher-tier monster fully taken over the nearby orc habitat?"
Monster stench was far more pungent than any wild beast's.
And the bigger the body, the worse the smell.
That was why Jae-hyeok suspected a 'higher-tier monster.'
Size and strength were proportional, so large monsters were usually high-grade.
Think ogre.
"Why ask me? Go investigate yourself and report back."
"...You're right."
Jae-hyeok nodded readily.
He recognized it wasn't something to brush off.
'If I can pinpoint and fix the cause, I should.'
The Lion Statue was stuck in place, unable to move a step.
Now it had to endure some mysterious stink too?
That could plummet its already boring life's satisfaction exponentially.
Crunch.
Jae-hyeok stepped off the platform, crossing the red line marking the entry ban.
The forest lurking in the darkness loomed closer.
His senses sharpened.
A danger zone forbidden to students.
From here, it was no longer Lion's Castle.
Pearl Island.
He was fully exposed to the ecosystem of the massive Gate surrounding Lion's Castle on all sides.
'Come to think of it, I haven't seen those orcs lately.'
The orcs that always showed up when Jae-hyeok trained before the Lion Statue, picking fights.
Looking back, they were lucky bastards.
Jae-hyeok, who didn't want to awaken, had beaten them to near-death without killing them.
'Did they get eaten in the meantime?'
After a few thrashings, the orcs had become awfully docile.
They'd watch Jae-hyeok train his forms in hushed silence.
Recalling their dazed faces, Jae-hyeok felt a twinge of bitterness.
Not that he'd grown attached to monsters, but...
'Feeling a bit of compassion isn't so bad.'
Even fleeting connections weigh heavy.
Jae-hyeok's face crumpled as a new realization hit him.
With people feeling compassion for monsters, what about his old House Kang retainers?
Were they all sociopaths?
Was that why they'd so easily abandoned the falling house for their own paths?
'I really don't get it.'
The people who once filled the mansion.
The proud warriors of House Kang, green curved swords at their waists—why had they all...
"......"
His eyes, cooling with rising anger, suddenly steadied.
Foul stench.
Far worse than the Lion Statue described, it brushed his nose.
He stopped, focusing to find the source.
His heightened five senses and intuition, thanks to high Insight stats, scanned every corner of the forest.
The result?
'Nothing.'
Jae-hyeok realized the stench's source had left the scene.
What he smelled was mere residue lingering in the air.
'If I'd come just a bit sooner, I'd have run into it?'
Estimating the departure time from the stench's concentration, Jae-hyeok shivered.
He felt relief, not regret, at missing the culprit tormenting the Lion Statue.
'This is one hell of a monster.'
The forest, once the orcs' habitat.
Now, not a trace of orcs.
Not even signs of any other creatures.
If Jae-hyeok had visited just a little later.
If even the residual stench had dissipated, he wouldn't have imagined anything lurking here.
'Steals another monster's turf as its own territory but hunts outside...?'
What monster did that?
He'd never seen it in Player Manager.
'Would more spending have shown it?'
Even among the so-called mega-whales, top-tier spenders.
Did they sell their house deeds or something?
Such doubts arose because the pinnacle content, enjoyed by those who'd dumped fortunes into the game, was beyond Jae-hyeok—who'd merely farted in Player Manager.
He couldn't burn through his father's industrial accident insurance and noble pension just to keep up with insane spenders dumping billions.
'No need for that now anyway.'
Jae-hyeok's current status was student.
At Lion's Castle, Korea's top player training institution, no less.
Unlike his past, confined to the mansion and reliant on Player Manager and the internet, his position had changed.
'I'll ask Teacher Kim Jin-myeong.'
If he didn't know, time to spend some points on the community.
'...Or use a conscientious merchant's intel for free.'
But he wouldn't show weakness now that he was misunderstood as the Brain Emperor.
Jae-hyeok planned to leverage the misunderstanding actively, expecting value worth hundreds of thousands of points.
'Time to head back.'
Some time later.
Having scoured the area without new info, Jae-hyeok gave up and returned to the dorm.
***
"Is there such a monster?"
The next morning.
Jae-hyeok visited the staff room before classes started.
He wanted to quench his overnight curiosity.
"First I've heard of it?"
But Kim Jin-myeong couldn't satisfy him.
"Hahaha, even a fine noble... er, student like you, Jae-hyeok, gets hooked by community ghost rumors sometimes."
He even laughed loudly, missing the mood.
'Guess I have to scour the community after all.'
Jae-hyeok quickly shook off his disappointment.
The staff room itself lifted his spirits.
'Kang Jae-hyeok. Gotta grab that kid soon...'
'The moment I get House Kang's secret arts, my life turns around.'
Faint hostility and greed from the teachers.
He'd caught the fleeting presences.
Teachers were at least B-rank players, lax against freshmen, and their clumsiness gave Jae-hyeok plenty of intel.
'Even the Class F homeroom teacher was after me.'
His enemies' identities were clarifying one by one.
The fruit of his efforts, challenges, and proofs to level up.
If his level and Insight were still low, he'd never have distinguished them.
"Intense stench, obsession with safe hideouts, external activity."
A welcome voice seeped into Jae-hyeok's pleased ear.
"Monsters with those habits do exist. But they're usually beastkin, right?"
"P-Professor Lee!?"
Startled, Kim Jin-myeong shot to his feet.
The staff room buzzed.
Mana Studies professor Lee So-young.
An A-rank top player with the moniker Grandmaster.
The staff room felt terribly shabby for her personal visit.
No wonder the teachers were shocked.
Lee So-young ignored the others, staring straight at Jae-hyeok.
"What did you see where? Mind sharing with me too?"