The First Seal Broken
It went exactly as Seo Hwarang had expected.
He waited, wetting his throat with bread and wine.
Clunk!
Someone flung the door open.
"You little punk. What the hell have you been doing that you couldn't send a single message?"
Masked men strode in, voices thick with irritation. Just as predicted, there were three of them.
Those guys must be the syndicate members.
"Wh-what the—!"
Since he'd laid the snoring innkeeper up on the table, the thugs froze in open bewilderment.
"What in the devil happened here?"
"Don't make a fuss. It's just a scrawny pair—a man, a woman, and a kid."
"Damn it, I wanted to do this the easy way, but I guess we've got no choice."
Shing, shing!
One by one, they drew their blades.
Public safety here really is a total mess.
Crimsons ran wild through the city like they owned it. Having come this far, there was no need to overthink it.
Time to deal with them.
D-rank thugs, nothing more. They'd be no different from the Black Wolf Bandit Gang he'd faced before.
No point in using fire magic indoors, anyway.
They looked like they had filthy personalities—maybe he'd give them a second wash.
1st Circle.
Master Aqua Splash.
Shuaaaaaah!
A torrent began to surge. Water materialized around the thugs, coiling around them with crushing pressure.
"Wh-what is this?!"
"He's a magician!"
"Goddamn it, no wonder they looked rich beyond all reason! A magician all along?"
The syndicate members cried out in dismay.
Did they rehearse this or something? Why does every one of them have the exact same lines?
Just as Seo Hwarang smirked and readied another spell—
Master Aqua Splash proficiency increased by 1.
Huh?
Proficiency had hit 60.
He hadn't expected Aqua Splash to reach it before Fire Bolt.
Master Aqua Splash proficiency has reached 60.
You have entered the Path of the Advanced.
You have fully understood the theory of Aqua Splash.
Proficiency rises to 80.
You have entered the Path of the Expert.
What?
This time, Seo Hwarang was genuinely startled.
Proficiency could jump by twenty points just like that?
He'd only heard that it could shoot up dramatically depending on one's comprehension of a skill—he'd never dreamed he would be the one to experience it.
Kwadeuk, kwadeudeuk!
At proficiency 80, Aqua Splash's water pressure was no joke. It had been strong before, but now it could lift a person clean off the ground.
"Kk—gaaaaahk!"
"Uaaaaarararak...!"
Gurgle-gurgle!
The volume of water swelled as well, submerging the men entirely.
Good thing, actually.
He'd been worried all the screaming might wake the sleeping guests.
Seo Hwarang was a modern man, after all.
He wanted to keep his manners.
1st Circle.
Master Light Arrow.
Swish-sh-sh!
This time, five golden arrows hovered in the air. He was just about to finish off the three thrashing criminals cleanly when—
Master Light Arrow proficiency increased by 1.
Master Light Arrow proficiency has reached 60.
You have entered the Path of the Advanced.
You have fully understood the theory of Light Arrow.
Proficiency rises to 80.
You have entered the Path of the Expert.
Again. It hit 60, then immediately leapt to 80.
It seemed every skill would work this way.
This.
This is even more of a jackpot than I thought, isn't it?
Swish-sh-sh-sh!
At proficiency 80, the golden arrows no longer numbered five. Twenty now—fifteen more than before. Even their color had grown far deeper and more brilliant.
Shall I let them fly?
Shoom.
As Seo Hwarang extended his hand, all twenty arrows surged forward at once.
Twee, twee, twuaaaang!
Each one pierced into a syndicate member's body with the crack of a sonic boom.
Syndicate Member
Syndicate Member
Syndicate Member
All three met their end without even a final scream.
Bella watched from behind.
Th-this is insane! He's even stronger than everything he's shown us so far...
Bella was now terrified. She half-wondered if Seo Hwarang was a dragon out of legend.
She had read books about Light Arrow herself, and it was absolutely never like this.
She was thoroughly confused.
I just have to survive this no matter what.
If she quietly trailed after him and served him devotedly, surely something would fall her way eventually, wouldn't it?
Bella's quick little mind spun fast and hard.
Bella wasn't the only one stunned.
Yoo Seon-ah was flabbergasted too.
"Hey, you... You're turning more and more into a monster, you know that?"
"A monster? That's a bit much."
"Honestly, I'm going easy on you with 'monster.' Tell me. What's your rank? Don't tell me it's A? Born A?"
Nope.
Born S, actually.
It was the truth.
Seo Hwarang himself was surprised.
This is stronger than I expected.
So this really was what a born-S-rank class could do? If a single Circle could show this kind of power, what would the 2nd or 3rd Circle look like? The 7th... or even the 9th?
Whew.
Just imagining it was staggering.
Well then.
It seemed everything jumped to 80 once it hit 60 proficiency, so it wouldn't be long before he could unseal Skill Book Collect.
Smack, smack!
Seo Hwarang walked over and slapped the innkeeper's cheek atop the table.
"Time to wake up."
Poisoned Food (D-rank)
☑ Objective: Deal with the syndicate members (3/3) ✓
☐ Objective: Report to the innkeeper and receive your reward (0/1)
To clear the quest, you must report to the innkeeper.
He honestly hadn't wanted to wake her, but there was no helping it.
"Hahk, hurrgh!"
The sleeping poison hadn't been particularly potent, and the innkeeper came to quickly.
"What in the world... Th-those men..."
As she looked around, the innkeeper's mouth fell open in horror. The same vicious thugs who always came to collect were lying dead, every one of them.
In that same instant, she understood to her very bones what kind of being she had crossed. A man who did not fear the syndicate lurking behind those thugs. A man powerful enough to eliminate all three without raising so much as a commotion.
"I-I-I-I'm so sorry..."
As the innkeeper stammered and trembled, Seo Hwarang intoned in an icy voice.
"I know they're the ones who ordered you to poison us. But I also know it was your hands that mixed it in."
"I have committed a sin worthy of death."
The middle-aged woman immediately dropped to her knees.
"My wrongdoing is great, so I will waive your lodging fees for all five days. And... and I will return the gold coins I received earlier! Please, accept this as my apology."
Ah.
So that's how this works.
Poisoned Food (D-rank) — Cleared!
🎁 Reward: Free lodging from the innkeeper (5 days)
🎁 Reward: 1 Gold Coin
🎁 Reward: Black Seal Gloves (Rare)
Nice!
Just like that, another Rare item had landed in his lap.
"Very well. Since you've paid the price, I'll forgive you. In exchange, tomorrow's dinner had better be even more special than tonight's."
"Of—of course! I'll scrape together everything I have to make it happen. Thank you for sparing my life! Thank you so much!"
Leaving the innkeeper bowing deeply behind them, they headed to their lodgings.
Later on—if she really did a satisfying job, he supposed he could slip her a tip on the way out.
As always.
Manners make the man, after all.
Bella was sent in to sleep first, while Seo Hwarang and Yoo Seon-ah gathered in a room together.
Why? To check their items, of course.
All business conducted outside would be handled by Yoo Seon-ah. The split would be nine to one—naturally, with Seo Hwarang taking the nine. They even planned to formally establish a company to make everything aboveboard.
"Let's take a look, then. These gloves?"
"Yes."
The Black Seal Gloves, to be precise.
Type: Armor (Gloves)
Grade:Rare
Black leather gloves worn by members of a criminal organization, bearing the black seal that serves as their emblem. When worn, a stealthy energy flows through the wearer's hands, aiding covert movements. A thin magical barrier also layers the hands, protecting them when attacking.
◈ Effect: Critical Rate +10%, slight increase to hand protection
◈ Skill: Touch of Darkness — increases stealth success rate by 10% when performing covert actions.
"Hmm."
Yoo Seon-ah rested her chin on her hand.
"Not as busted as the Black Wolf armor, huh? Still, it'd be pretty popular with assassin-type classes."
"How much do you think it'd go for?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure either. But we should get at least 20 million for it. We'll have to see when we sell. This kind of stuff is best put up for auction anyway."
Hmm.
Considering the Black Wolf armor could fetch up to 200 million if it sold well, this did feel a bit stingy.
Still, whatever.
20 million won was nothing to sneeze at.
"Quests really are the sweetest deal."
"Right? They give you items. Free lodging too. If one just pops up, we should absolutely take it and clear it before moving on."
That's right.
Tomorrow, he really would have to poke around everywhere.
It would be a quest hunt of thirty thousand miles!
"Let's call it a night. Get some rest, noona. Keep gathering mana while you're at it."
"Will do. I'll have my 1st Circle formed by tomorrow."
"Sounds good."
Seo Hwarang was in a hurry too.
Every skill was now one step away from 80!
He intended to push them all up before bed.
And at last—
All ten of his skills had reached 80.
If he were to mention the changes that had meaningfully improved... Fire Bolt now let him control four bolts instead of two. Light had grown from a single orb to four as well.
The other skills, too, had become absurdly more powerful. It was almost frightening to imagine what would happen when proficiency hit 100.
"Huaaaaah."
Seo Hwarang let out a weary groan.
Exhausted as he was, he had pressed on stubbornly—driven by a single-minded determination to read books. And now, the fruit of that effort had finally appeared.
Skill average proficiency has reached 80.
Condition fulfilled.
The skill Skill Book Collect has been unsealed.
Freedom at last!
U-hahaha!
Seo Hwarang cheered inwardly, throwing up his hands in triumph.
Now I can read skill books again.
Read another ten and that cursed seal would probably slap itself right back on, but regardless—
He was simply happy that he could return to that thrilling world of reading.
And also—
Another nice point: he could return to Earth the moment he read just one more book.
He wanted to sleep on a modern bed with the heating cranked up nice and toasty.
No, wait—he should hit a public bathhouse first. Maybe even hit a jjimjilbang with Yoo Seon-ah, downing sikhye with boiled eggs and chasing it all with chicken and beer.
"Haaaah."
It felt good.
It wasn't quite the bliss of reading a book, but the sense of accomplishment still filled him with happiness.
Shoom.
Seo Hwarang pulled a skill book from his inventory.
Leatherworking.
The one Yoo Seon-ah had given him.
Swish!
He opened the cover.
It's showing!
The once-tangled pictographs all translated before his eyes, rendered in readable text.
But.
Tak!
Seo Hwarang squeezed his eyes shut and closed the book.
I need to learn these carefully from now on.
There was no rush. If he crammed them in recklessly, he might end up breaking his back grinding proficiency all over again.
First things first.
Sleep.
Then tomorrow, he'd get up and tour the Magic Guild and the city.
Hunting for skill books, of course.
Darkness had already settled over the room, and only a small candle flickered on.
"Whew!"
The moment he snuffed it, the room sank into blackness in an instant.
Only the faint moonlight drifting in through the window remained.
Seo Hwarang closed his eyes slowly, unwinding from the long, exhausting day.