[EP1. Mana Level MAX?]

There was a Mana Force Slate.

Up until he read the description of the slate, Jae-jun felt utterly indifferent.

He just thought it was handing him a free skill, nothing more.

Thwack!

Jae-jun slammed his fist down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the slate.

A skill grade of...

'S-Grade?'

Jae-jun jumped in shock.

It was an S-Grade skill, one that even S-Grade hunters only had a fifty percent chance of acquiring upon awakening.

'...Jackpot!'

He was already a cheat character, and this was a cheat skill on top of that.

In other words, as long as he could handle the mana cost, any skill he had could be upgraded to match his lowest stat grade.

And Jae-jun had infinite mana.

'Now, no matter what skill it is, it'll grow stronger as long as I do!'

Jae-jun's eyes filled with ecstatic joy.

Growing stronger.

The stronger he got, the stronger his skills would become.

But if any other hunter got this skill, they'd probably think it was useless.

Most hunters' grades stayed at what they were upon initial awakening, and their mana pools were extremely limited.

This skill's true value was reserved solely for someone like Jae-jun, with infinite mana and The Gamer ability—making it the ultimate powerhouse skill.

'Status window.'

Mana Force had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been registered as a passive skill.

Should he start by enhancing his most-used skill, Fire?

'Mana Force!'

'Enhance Fire.'

'Holy shit!'

The skill being enhanced was cheat-level, but the mana cost was even more insane.

This was an amount even top-tier archmages would struggle to afford.

And no one would waste their precious, blood-like mana on enhancing low-grade skills unless they had mana to spare—like Jae-jun.

He stared blankly at the unreal mana requirement before snapping out of it and nodding.

'...Enhance it.'

A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him as mana drained sharply from his body.

But it was fleeting, and the mana returned just as quickly.

Fire's weak attack power had transformed into the much stronger Fire Lance.

Next up...

'Let's enhance Strike.'

Without a break, Jae-jun enhanced his other skills right away.

It cost 500,000 less mana than enhancing the F-Grade Fire.

Still an absurd amount no normal hunter could dream of, but Jae-jun didn't care.

'Enhance it.'

'Now Counter!'

He'd bought the Counter skill but hardly ever used it properly.

It was tricky to time, and Jae-jun preferred striking first anyway.

'Perfect.'

Now it activated automatically—no more timing worries.

Even sneak attacks would trigger an instant retaliation.

The last E-Grade skill remaining: Dash.

'Yeah. Enhance it!'

'Blink, huh.'

An unexpected evolution, but welcome all the same.

A one-minute cooldown was nothing—it was basically an extra evasion tool.

Jae-jun had enhanced every skill he could.

Barrier was already D-Grade, so no luck there.

'Compared to the original D-Grade Barrier, these enhanced skills feel way better, don't they?'

It wasn't an illusion.

Boosted by the S-Grade Mana Force, their power and utility were leagues ahead.

They felt perfectly tailored to what Jae-jun needed—like pseudo-C-Grade skills.

'Skill window.'

Just looking at them made his shoulders lift with pride.

'With this, I could take on that centipede.'

Confidence surged through Jae-jun.

But it wasn't baseless bravado.

The centipede had faced hordes of ants and come out unscathed—it was no ordinary foe.

Still, with these skills and his title-boosted stats, he figured he had a shot.

Jae-jun climbed back up the passage to check out the centipede.

It was still tearing into the queen ant's corpse.

Crunch! Crunch!

He peeked out cautiously, but it didn't notice a thing.

The exit was right next to the boss monster, the queen ant.

'To get past, I either hide and wait... or fight it head-on. Those are my options.'

If he had to pick one, obviously the latter.

A proper showdown.

Jae-jun observed the centipede closely.

Its tough red exoskeleton showed no damage despite the ant onslaught—save for a slight wound where the queen ant had bitten it last.

But targeting that spot felt iffy.

Given the ants' tendency to attack until decapitated, the centipede might do the same.

'If I'm aiming, better go for the head.'

Jae-jun pulled out his Frost Blade from subspace.

At the same time, he cast Fire Lance.

'Fire Lance!'

Mana flowed into the fiery spear, steadily increasing its size.

It stopped growing at around 3 meters.

'Will it pierce the centipede?'

His heart pounded even before launching the attack.

Not fear.

'If I take it down, I'll get even stronger, right?'

It was anticipation of growth.

Jae-jun aimed precisely at the centipede's head as it devoured the queen ant's flesh.

'Fire Lance!'

The fiery spear streaked through the air like an arrow.

The centipede flinched and raised its head, but the spear was already upon it.

Boom!

"Yes!"

It hit dead on the head—he confirmed it.

The spear pierced partway through the exoskeleton before exploding.

The cave shook, dust and debris clouding his vision.

Shrieeek!

Through the dust, the enraged centipede's tail whipped toward him.

But Jae-jun had anticipated it.

"Dash: Blink!"

Fwoosh!

His body blurred and reappeared above the centipede's head.

"Double Strike!"

Vmmm!

Thwack!

Thwack!

Mana gathered on the blade, unleashing two rapid slashes.

The sharp edge dug into the centipede's head wound, widening it further.

Shrieeeeeek!

The centipede let out a agonized screech.

Without time to retract its tail, it snapped open its saw-toothed mandibles toward Jae-jun.

It felt like a third party yanked his body and arms, pulling him aside.

Dodging the extending mandibles, his blade sliced deep into the wounded spot once more.

Slash!

Some unidentified fluid gushed from the centipede's head.

Jae-jun didn't stop.

Once more.

'Double Strike!'

Two heavy blows hammered the mandibles.

The centipede staggered, slamming its head into the wall.

Rumble...

Its massive body crashed down, shaking the cave.

Shrieek!

Stumbling, it rose and, sensing danger, tried fleeing up the largest hole in the ceiling.

Not letting it escape that easily!

The one-minute cooldown on Blink had passed.

Jae-jun Blinked again.

Fwoosh!

He reappeared near the centipede's legs.

He swung at the thickest leg clutching a stalactite.

Thud!

The stalactite snapped, sending the centipede plummeting.

Jae-jun looked down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at its flailing body in midair.

The finale.

"Fire Lance!"

The spear, now at max size, plunged toward the head.

Boom!

This time, it burrowed deep inside before detonating.

The centipede lost its head and went still.

'Whew. Power-leveled again.'

He tried to check his status, but his body swayed oddly.

His vision blurred.

"What's going on?"

It was his first time hitting a fatigue-induced debuff.

Lethargy assaulted his entire body in an instant.

He needed to check his status window.

But his hand felt impossibly heavy.

Thank goodness it hadn't happened mid-fight.

'Damn it!'

Staggering, Jae-jun approached the centipede's corpse.

Reaching out, the system auto-detected the item.

"Acquire."

Disappointing, but that was the only drop from the centipede.

Too drained to check it, Jae-jun staggered toward the exit.

'...Ji-hoon's gonna flip when I get back.'

His body passed through the gate and vanished.

The cave was left with only the corpses of the centipede and ants.