Chapter 136
Chapter 136
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: To Them, I'm Still the Team Leader
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To them, I was still the team leader.
I immediately opened my status window and checked my increased vitality.
[Hunter: Joo Dong-hoon]
[Title: Skeleton King]
[Vitality: 2,220/2,220]
[Unique Ability: Cursed Necromancer]
[Grade: S]
[Effects]
-You possess the job of Necromancer, which handles the souls of the dead. You can subdue opponents using terrifying evil spirits and deadly poisons. However, you are cursed.
-You can only summon skeletons.
….
“Whew.”
I let out an exclamation.
Vitality exceeding 2,000 just from item effects.
I couldn’t help but be amazed.
The feeling was fresh.
‘It feels like just yesterday I was scraping by, splitting up every 100 vitality.’
Now, I could use it freely without worry.
‘Especially.’
My skeletons were now made of dragon bones.
They wouldn’t break easily, and I wouldn’t need to use much vitality anyway.
And that wasn’t all?
Vitality recovery speed had increased too.
The amount of vitality recovered once per hour wasn’t absolute—it was a percentage.
Back when my max vitality was 100.
I thought it recovered 10 per hour.
But it turned out to be 10% per hour.
[Vitality: 2,220/2,220]
In other words, with my current vitality.
It recovered 222 per hour.
An absurd speed compared to before.
And on top of that.
[The Water Essence laments.]
I had obtained another essence.
Having directly felt the power of the Fire Essence, I knew better than anyone.
Just how immense and terrifying the power of a single essence was.
[The Water Essence asks if it really has to watch this weakling’s antics.]
Though.
The Water Essence didn’t feel as friendly as the Fire Essence.
[The Fire Essence tells it to shut its trap and sleep, since it’s being noisy.]
Whew.
As expected, the Fire Essence.
It had always been like this.
It had adored me from the start.
And it was sharp and aloof toward everyone else but me.
[The Water Essence displays ‘???’.]
[The Water Essence asks if you even have the right to do that.]
[The Fire Essence lets out a deep sigh.]
[The Water Essence bristles.]
The two bickering.
Vmmm!
I gripped the staff made of blue and red.
The light vibration it gave off.
And the two clashing energies felt wondrous.
[The Water Essence makes a face like it can’t understand why it’s picking a fight right away upon meeting.]
[The Fire Essence says it was very quiet without you. It calls you rude and noisy.]
[The Water Essence asks, wanna go?]
Crunch! Cruuunch!
The staff’s vibrations grew more intense.
Huh?
“Um, you two……?”
[The Fire Essence snickers.]
[The Fire Essence says it won’t leave itself out. It calls the crude water droplet worthless and says it’ll vaporize it in an instant with the flames of karmic fire, making it evaporate forever.]
“……Um? Hold on a sec.”
[The Water Essence snorts.]
[The Water Essence says your bark is worse than your bite, nothing but hot air, and it’ll extinguish you in one go.]
Thud thud thud!
The ground began to shake.
No.
More precisely, it looked like it was shaking.
Like an old man’s tremors.
Since they were two forces visible only to me, with no physical impact on reality.
‘But.’
With these colossal beings throwing a tantrum, my mind felt hazy.
“Stop! Stop it!”
I swung the staff roughly.
At the same time, I used my own energy to control the staff’s energies.
It probably wouldn’t work.
But I tried to bind them so they wouldn’t rampage.
I suppressed them forcefully.
[The Water Essence says, this insolent brat again…… Huh?]
“Hm?”
I widened my eyes.
Because the wildly raging blue energy had vanished for a moment.
What was this?
Was it actually working?
Whoosh!
I swung the staff again.
[The Water Essence furrows its brow.]
Whoosh!
[The Water Essence asks what the hell you’re doing, making it dizzy. It tells you to stop.]
Whoosh!
[The Water Essence tilts its head. Hey?]
The blue energy in the staff began to diminish.
While the red energy grew fiercer.
[The Water Essence says, wait? Why are you only suppressing me?]
[The Fire Essence praises you, saying you did well. It says there’s no need to ever use such a low-grade Water Essence.]
[The Water Essence points accusingly. You son of a…… That’s cheating!]
Whoosh!
Swinging it again cut off the forming message.
The flailing blue energy shrank too.
That was it.
[Item: Sealed Seven Essences' Spirit (2/7)]
[Grade: God-Slaying]
[Type: Weapon]
[Description: Fragments of the seven essences even the primordial gods feared. The seal will be released once all attribute essences are gathered. Currently contains the Fire Essence and Water Essence.]
[Effect 1: Transforms into the desired form.]
[Effect 2: Absolutely indestructible.]
[Effect 3: Uses the power of gathered essences.]
[Effect 4: Increases vitality by 2,000.]
The weapon’s Effect 3.
The one wielding the power of the gathered essences was me.
In other words, I alone chose which energy to use.
Increasing the Fire’s proportion suppressed the Water’s momentum.
‘Nice control method.’
An unexpected gain.
‘I don’t know what kind of beings they are exactly.’
Beings even the primordial gods feared.
Should I stop here?
No.
God-Slaying beings or not.
They had messed with me, so they had to pay the price.
My principle didn’t discriminate.
“For now, I’ll seal the Water Essence away for a bit.”
[The Water Essence glares wide-eyed.]
“Just for a little while. But if you keep getting excited or stirring up trouble, I’ll keep sealing you from now on.”
[The Water Essence says, try it if you……]
[The Fire Essence turns the inner space into a sea of flames.]
[The Water Essence cries out in shock. It’s filthy! It demands you release the seal qui……]
Whoosh!
I swung the staff again.
“No.”
I stated firmly.
I also ignored the following messages.
It seemed like the Fire Essence was tormenting it in a space I couldn’t see.
Honestly, it was good news for me.
Being able to control these absolute beings with something so trivial was heavenly luck.
Vmmm!
As I stared at the now fully red staff.
Vmmm!
That was when three unidentified gates opened in midair.
One right next to me on the left.
One 200 meters to the right.
And one in the air.
“Uwaaaack!”
“Uwaaa!”
From them.
Crash!
Six hunters tumbled out of the gates.
“No, Mr. Vladimir!”
Olena, who had fallen, got up and snapped venomously.
“What if you send us off so recklessly like that?”
“Exactly. You sent yourself straight to the ground properly, so why send us into the air!”
The middle-aged Maximilian grumbled.
“Uhahaha, sorry.”
Vladimir appeared right beside me.
He grinned sheepishly.
“Multi-skill isn’t something I’m used to yet……. Anyway, it actually worked? Wow, as expected! This is the power of SS Grade!”
Apparently.
Vladimir had obtained a dedicated weapon that allowed him to use spatial magic as a multi-cast.
His gaze, lovingly fixed on his staff.
“Oh?”
Soon turned to me.
“Hey, Hoon! You’re awake?”
He shouted happily.
“Hoon?”
“Team leader!”
“My friend.”
The other team members soon brushed the dirt off themselves and approached me.
Simpan-chang Jang Wei, Olena Zhelenska, Kapu, Miao Hana, Maximilian, Vladimir Rodigin.
My comrades, my peers.
“As expected, Miao Hana’s healing arts are incredible. To save both in the end.”
Jang Wei smiled softly.
Swish!
At the same time, he gracefully lowered his spear.
Not the one he usually used—a spear of a design I’d never seen.
“My friend, this is the SS Grade dedicated weapon I got this time. It amplifies energy, and it pairs perfectly with Master’s Plum Blossom Spear. Thanks to it, I’ll be able to judge even more wicked souls.”
“Hee-hee, I got the ‘Ancient Magic Tome - Water’ (SS Grade). It’s filled with magic formulas I’ve never seen in my life, so it’s a reward that’ll cause a stir in the academy. But for now, I want to study it alone. I need to boost my skills first.”
Olena smiled as she spoke.
‘Ah.’
I could guess what they’d been up to.
“I got an orb.”
The middle-aged Maxim approached with a smile.
“They say holding it stabilizes your energy? With this, the duration and power of my Five Intents have definitely increased. A precious treasure.”
They were….
“Hoon, I implanted a custom artificial lens. It’s an amazing lens. It tells me info or weaknesses of any object. As an explorer, I love this item.”
For me, who had passed out without hearing any explanations, they readily shared the info first.
Precious SS Grade reward info they had no need to share.
“Mine’s just a healing staff. A dedicated weapon. It amplifies healing abilities and comes with a revival skill called Recovery.”
To them, I.
“Hey, team leader. Mine’s a dedicated weapon too. Performance is as you see. Multi-casting is possible. No, not multi—triple? It’s insane. With a bit of practice, you’ll see three of me, Vladimir. Doesn’t it sound reassuring just thinking about it?”
Was still the team leader.
Even though Theme 2 was over.
Even if Delaila’s trials were all finished.
I would be their team leader forever.
I could feel it.
“…….”
Truthfully, each one was remarkable.
I was remarkable now too.
But just a few months ago, they had been like suns to me.
All A Grade or higher.
Provisional rankers with connections to five or more rankers.
And such people looked only at me.
They looked at me with eyes full of trust.
‘But strangely.’
It didn’t feel burdensome.
Instead, my heart warmed.
True friends.
To me, who hadn’t had a proper friend in the past 20 years.
It felt like I’d finally gained real friends.
Thud, thump!
I tapped the staff on the ground.
Fizz!
At the same time, blue and red energies flared up on both sides.
“You must all be curious.”
[The Water Essence asks if you’re releasing the seal already after scaring it.]
[The Fire Essence says it’s acting up again.]
“Of course you are. I must have looked ridiculous back then, possessed by something while catching the dragon.”
“…….”
Silence fell.
And there’s that saying from old.
Silence means consent.
“It’ll take a lot of time to explain everything.”
I smiled.
“But I promise. I’ll tell you all slowly.”
There wasn’t really any secret anyway.
My actions had already been seen by Delaila and the examiners.
It was just a matter of time before it spread, so no reason to hide it from them.
And I was grateful they hadn’t asked despite that.
It made them even more trustworthy.
“Well, thanks for saying you’ll tell us. Hahaha!”
The first to break the silence was Vladimir.
He laughed heartily.
“Then just until this trial ends, please, team leader. I’m dying of curiosity here.”
“Whew, honestly, I thought I was going crazy from curiosity too.”
Olena exhaled.
“I thought you’d become a god or something, Hoon? Catching Poison Fog and even the dragon. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Keke, the team leader is the most mysterious person I’ve ever met.”
Murmur murmur.
Just as the atmosphere returned.
Swish!
Someone appeared in midair.
A sturdy man in neat black suit pants and a crisp white dress shirt.
Senior Examiner.
The Magic Swordsman Luca.
“Have you all gossiped enough?”
“Since I’ve given you enough consideration, prepare yourselves now. We’ve delayed quite a bit.”
His words opened the third theme.