Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Dungeon Black Hole (4)
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With about an hour left, I made it back to the cave safely. I'd been surprised by the mysterious phenomenon that kept the "ant nest" from being dark at all, but this place—where the queen's egg shone with radiant light—was the only spot that truly put my mind at ease.
"No new info to report. If you count the trivial stuff, maybe that the guys we just fought are the weakest of the bunch?"
"So how many will come this time?"
"At least double the last wave. Chorong, just support Legion and hold the line no matter what. I'll wrap it up quick."
Lucky or unlucky, after battling those four elite soldiers, I barely ran into any more enemies. In the end, I had to settle for hitting level 2 and head back.
So right now, my pure Infinite stat—without any buffs—is F- (74/100). To break through the rank, I'd need at least 26 more level-ups or some extra elixirs.
The decision was instant. I'd been holding out without touching them precisely for a moment like this.
'Pop them right after the next wave.'
Elixirs do have limits. Shoving random ones down your throat willy-nilly won't yield much efficiency. Worse, clashing affinities could turn a plus into a minus.
For example, chugging a fire-attuned elixir alongside a water-heavy one could backfire and injure you if luck's not on your side.
That's why I hadn't touched the endless variety of elixirs slumbering in my inventory. To be precise, I'd only consumed exactly four: the Primordial Spring Water and Radiant Nectar—things that transcended the elixir concept altogether.
Over 95% of the opened elixirs in my inventory simply boosted a specific stat by a fixed amount, which made them a poor fit for someone like me with Mythic-grade stats.
Those kinds of elixirs lose potency dramatically if you don't lack that stat to begin with.
That's why my current state left me just one point shy of the F- (75/100) I'd planned for. Once I hit that, I could consume the elixirs at peak efficiency and shatter the rank wall.
"Taking a quick break."
With that happy thought, I caught a 30-minute nap. Before long, the second wave kicked off.
The second wave brought eight scout soldiers. Two each from the four passages—front, rear, left, right. Only one difference from the previous wave.
All the buffs from our saintess candidate had poured entirely into Legion.
To be exact, she'd stripped out all attack buffs, channeling everything into innate ability enhancement and raw stat boosts.
Thanks to that, Legion's golden holy divine form grew even larger and tougher. A mere [F-] rank—mocked as trash-tier—stood alone against four hulking bruisers and held the line spectacularly.
"Impressive."
I couldn't help thinking that if we just nurtured that innate ability, SS-grade was right around the corner. The trick would be figuring out how to awaken it.
In all my pre- and post-regression life, I'd witnessed an innate ability awakening exactly once: Seo Mi-na blooming radiantly amid a life-or-death crisis in a hidden stage.
Having seen her power rise gloriously from the brink of death, I couldn't help but wonder what would trigger Legion's.
'Hopefully it awakens before this dungeon ends.'
"...How long... do I keep... buffing?"
"Ah! Coming right up!"
I shook off the stray thoughts and thrust my hand toward the scouts that had sneaked right up to me, jaws snapping.
"Kyaa! What are you doing?!"
To outsiders, I must've looked like some lunatic begging for self-harm. Wrong.
With Yielding Steel's flock descending, my hand seized the beast's jaw and slammed it into the floor. It toppled, its own strength turned against it—dead before it could register what hit it as my Frostfire Sword plunged into its neck.
"Turn to XP fast and die."
My body surged forward in a blur. These idiots, mesmerized by the queen's egg even after watching their buddy drop, made it easy.
No matter how strong, without reason, they're worse than beasts.
It took less than 30 minutes to wipe out all eight scouts. And that was while toying with their attacks, utterly enchanted by Yielding Steel's elegant power.
Had I aimed for a blitz, it'd have been half that.
Naturally, slaughtering eight filled my XP bar. I hit level 14 and reached 75 stats on the nose.
"Great work!"
"...Great work."
"You too. Especially you, Legion... Awakening that innate ability soon looks promising."
"I will... strive."
We caught our breath during the break when, right on cue, my little sister's capsule pinged for a magic stone refill.
"Why's it draining magic stones already? It should've lasted four days easy!"
"It's fine. Legion, if you would."
I handed Legion the largest, purest [D-] magic stone from the elite soldiers we'd downed. It got to work processing immediately.
"I've got something to handle too, so rest up. Shouldn't be any issues."
Leaving the focused Legion behind, I headed to a corner of the clearing and opened my inventory. Amid the feast of infinite consumables and gear—up to [Advanced-E+] unlocked—I pulled out the five elixirs I'd selected.
Even appraising Common-grade items pushed the limits, yet I'd splurged over 50 Black Market scrolls—at 5 million won a pop—to meticulously evaluate and cherry-pick these from my inventory's promising elixirs. All five created spare points.
Elixirs that generate spare points were exceedingly rare. But rarity didn't faze me. My inventory held enough elixirs to exhaust the world's supply.
Still, I wanted only the absolute best for perfect absorption, narrowing it to five.
"Alright... down the hatch?"
I popped them into my mouth one by one without hesitation. Elixir absorption is pure talent and luck.
Elixir item descriptions typically list min-max stat gains. Hunters call this "absorption rate," and boosting it takes two paths.
First, genius-level talent preserves the elixir's energy in your body for max gain.
Second, sheer luck. Good rolls hike the rate.
Usually, a mix sets the final rate. That's why I figured now—hitting 75 stats as my Curse of Misfortune burned out—was optimal.
I fed them in sequence. A medley of flavors hit, my gut heating up.
No matter how much misfortune meddled, even the minimums yielded 27 spare points—exactly the bare minimum to push my Infinite stat to F-rank.
At maximum? 51 points. Enough to skyrocket Infinite to F (12/100) in one go.
Mythic stats demand one more spare point per rank-up. In that sense, Heart of the Giant God was perfection for me.
It saved the insane points needed for Mythic stats.
And their true might kicked in now. Each rank-up revealed why they guzzled points—bestowing power on a whole new level.
That explained the thrill when I briefly transcended ranks via wing-Equivalent Exchange, and the crash when buffs faded.
Feeling the massive energies blazing inside, I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. No skills here to absorb them.
No meditation arts, breathing techniques, or cultivation methods that high-rank hunters all had.
Pure talent and luck it was.
'Suck 'em in!'
Huuu!
I inhaled deeply, devouring the glowing masses rampaging within. They darted everywhere, testing every nook like they owned the place. I snared them one by one.
Infinite read my will, my body adjusting. I began capturing the 51 energy clumps.
Starting with the spots humans used most. The ones bouncing happily in my left thumb? Absorbed straight into the bone.
Next, five racing up my thigh—muscles slurped them up.
Three rolling lazily on my calf? Skin swallowed them whole.
My body transformed endlessly. Absorbed energies turned to spare stats, auto-invested into Infinite. Growth accelerated.
How many did I devour in that half-trance?
Fortune's aid plus my burgeoning talent from devouring energies sped things up further.
Once, after Radiant Nectar, a miracle had awakened. Now it ruled my flesh again.
How long had I focused? Elixir absorption done, still meditating with eyes shut, a message snapped me awake: nearly 24 hours gone, next wave imminent.
Opening my eyes, I beheld a utterly transformed world.