The Underground Temple of Katerand Island
Crack!
The floor shattered with a heavy, splintering boom.
Through the hole punched open beneath them, nothing could be seen clearly.
But Kim Tae-hyun didn’t hesitate. He jumped.
The moment he saw that, Rufo nearly had a fit.
“No, seriously, this man is actually—!”
But what else could he do?
Right now, the only person he could trust to truly be the Avatar of Archisus was Tae-hyun.
Rufo let out a sigh, then jumped after him.
You have entered the Dungeon: Underground Temple of Katerand Island.
For the time being, logout is restricted.
If you log out, you will be forcibly expelled from the dungeon and a penalty will be applied.
“Got here all right.”
The warning window floating before his eyes was, to Tae-hyun, a sign he’d come to the right place.
More than anything, it was a temple, wasn’t it?
It felt right.
Splash, splash—
The two of them had landed in water.
Rufo glanced around, then swung an arm.
Flash!
“What’s that?”
A soft, bright light spilled from Rufo’s arm.
“It’s a light-emitting spell.”
“You know magic too?”
“No. It’s an item.”
That was exactly what you’d expect from a merchant guild swordsman.
Why bother learning magic yourself?
You could just use the merchant guild’s magic items.
“Only you get to use it?”
“……!”
Rufo looked at Tae-hyun, suddenly realizing his mistake.
“There’s only one—”
“Relax. I was joking. Just get moving and light the way.”
Once they swam out of the pool, what greeted them was a road of heavy marble.
Structures that were obviously not naturally formed!
Seeing them, Rufo grew tense.
“Do you think we came to the right place?”
“Probably.”
The instant Tae-hyun set foot on the stone floor, light engulfed the surroundings.
“……!”
This is holy ground, intruders.
Turn back.
If you come any closer, your lives cannot be guaranteed.
It was a deep voice, coming from nowhere he could identify.
Rufo heard it and shouted back.
“We are not intruders! The successor to the Avatar is here!”
“Hey. You idiot. Do you even know who you’re talking to? What if it’s hostile?”
“……!”
At Tae-hyun’s scolding, Rufo shut his mouth.
Now that he thought about it, Tae-hyun had a point.
The Avatar of Archisus?
“Nah. He’s just a little off in the head and talking nonsense.”
If you are truly the Avatar of Archisus, pass through this place.
Otherwise, turn back.
The light indicated the center of the path.
Rufo looked at Tae-hyun.
If he gets through there, then he really is the Avatar of Archisus, right?
Until now, he’d only half believed it.
Of course, given the absurd things Tae-hyun had already shown him, even if he wasn’t the Avatar of Archisus, he was clearly someone extraordinary.
Still, Rufo needed confirmation.
That was why he had come here.
“Aren’t you going?”
“Like hell I’m the one who’s supposed to go first… What were you planning to do if you stepped in there and triggered a trap?”
“…….”
Rufo had only spoken up and gotten cursed out for it.
Clicking his tongue, Tae-hyun started forward slowly.
No matter how he looked at it, that place he was being told to pass through did not look normal.
Feels like a trap…
Fwoooosh!
Shrrrkkkkkkk!
“Tae-hyun-nim!!!”
Dozens of arrows shot toward him at once.
Rufo let out a scream.
Tae-hyun might have a filthy personality, be insufferable, picky, arrogant, and—
No, wait. That’s not the point.
Whatever kind of man he was, he absolutely could not die like this.
He was the most important person to them, wasn’t he?
But Tae-hyun was completely fine.
Letting out a sigh, he said,
“Yeah. Figures. Of course it’d be something like this.”
Archisus was the god of luck.
If this place was going to verify whether he was truly that god’s Avatar, then of course it would always come down to luck.
At this point, dozens of arrows flying at him at once didn’t even surprise him much.
Remarkable.
To think the Avatar of Archisus has appeared again.
“……!”
Rufo clenched his fist tight.
Now it was certain.
Tae-hyun really was the Avatar of Archisus.
Though it is a little strange that the Avatar of Archisus is this weak.
“……?”
Tae-hyun was startled for a moment.
Most people would have brushed past that line without thinking twice.
Not Tae-hyun.
He’d noticed something in that voice.
So the original Avatar of Archisus was stronger? Wait…
Now that he thought about it, normally it was hard to acquire a Legendary Class at low level.
Even Lee Se-yeon hadn’t gotten hers until she was over level 100.
And before that, she’d already done all kinds of growth through Necromancer-line classes.
Smith, who was currently attempting a knight-type Legendary Class, had definitely passed level 100 too.
But Tae-hyun wasn’t even level 30 yet.
It was strange.
No, not a little strange—very strange.
Think about it. Normally, to get Luck into the thousands, you’d have to be over level 100, so… ah!
Luck wasn’t a stat people usually stacked.
Even if someone focused on it, to get Luck into the thousands, they’d still need to be at least level 100.
Tae-hyun was the exception, because he’d raised nothing but Luck like a madman.
So that’s why it said I was weak?
The normal path for the Avatar of Archisus was to level past 100, build up plenty of other skills, and then class change once the Luck requirement was finally met.
That way, the penalty of leveling slowly would at least be somewhat bearable.
And I probably would’ve gotten some of the Legendary Class skills right away too.
Among the skills of a Legendary Class, there were some you received immediately if you met the level requirement.
Tae-hyun hadn’t gotten them because he wasn’t even level 30 yet, but if he had class-changed after 100, he would’ve received several on the spot.
In the end…
He had class-changed absurdly early.
Damn it.
Only now did Tae-hyun fully understand.
The Avatar of Archisus was a class designed on the assumption that you’d class-change only after already being fairly high level.
Well, whatever. Too late now.
Tae-hyun quickly steadied himself.
There was no turning back now.
Looked at another way, class-changing early had advantages too.
He had more room to grow.
Though it was definitely going to be hell to level.
Avatar.
Ahead lies the Authority left behind by the former Avatar.
If you are worthy, claim it.
With those words, the voice disappeared.
Rufo hurried over.
“Are you all right?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not hurt.”
“No, are you really saying you’re fine after getting hit by those arrows?!”
“You think an Avatar is called an Avatar for nothing?”
Tae-hyun drew his sword and started forward.
He’d confirmed there was an Authority in here—a class skill.
But there was no way this was going to be easy.
Couldn’t they just hand it over? Why’s there always a test…
Grumbling under his breath, Tae-hyun walked ahead.
Click—
“Watch out!”
Rufo shouted, grabbed Tae-hyun, and lunged forward.
As a result, Tae-hyun got to plant his face directly into the cold stone floor.
Papapapak—
Countless arrows sliced through the place they’d just been standing.
“…….”
“Are you all right?”
“I would’ve been if you hadn’t shoved me.”
Tae-hyun rubbed his face and got back up.
“There were arrows flying at us! Of course we had to dodge!”
“I don’t have to dodge those.”
Tae-hyun glanced over the arrows scattered on the floor.
Their tips glowed blue.
“Oh. Poison?”
“…….”
Watching Tae-hyun carefully collect poison from the arrowheads, Rufo asked in disbelief,
“Didn’t you say we didn’t have time?”
“That was up above. This is different. Even if the pirates come looking for us, they won’t make it this far anyway.”
Tae-hyun was confident.
This was a trial ground made for the Avatar of Archisus.
If the pirates chased them in here, all that would happen was they’d get riddled with arrows and collapse.
◈ A poison refined from Bagot flower pollen.
◈ Its toxicity does not degrade over time, making it a commonly used poison.
With quick hands, Tae-hyun scraped off the poison and gathered it all up.
Poison wasn’t exactly easy to come by.
And high-quality poison was even harder to make.
If poison’s coming out of a place like this, it’s bound to be good stuff.
Following behind him, Rufo couldn’t help wondering whether someone who carefully harvested trap poison like this really was the Avatar.
Well—the dungeon had vouched for him, but still…
Shing—
“Danger!”
The instant the sound rang out, Rufo tried to grab Tae-hyun and pull him aside again.
Tae-hyun shook him off and snapped,
“Hey, idiot. You’re the dangerous one!”
Rufo scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Still, this time it isn’t a trap.”
“Yeah.”
Intruder… turn back…
What appeared ahead was a Specter Warrior.
It emerged through the wall, holding a translucent greatsword, blue flames burning in its empty eye sockets.
“I’m the Avatar of Archisus, and you’re still coming at me?”
Intruder… will be driven back…
“Doesn’t seem like it understands reason.”
“Yeah. Looks that way.”
Tae-hyun drew his sword.
If being the Avatar of Archisus meant everything would just politely step aside, this place wouldn’t be a dungeon in the first place.
“Be careful. I don’t think that thing is ordinary!”
Lucky Strike — 5 Stacks!
Circle of Attack!
KWAJIK!
Rufo’s eyes widened.
The blow Tae-hyun had delivered was no ordinary strike.
It was a heavy attack that even outstanding swordsmen would struggle to reproduce.
He’d known Tae-hyun was the Avatar, sure, but to think he’d be that strong—
Lucky Strike skill level has increased.
Intruder… weak…
“……!”
Rufo leaped in with a startled expression and knocked aside the Specter Warrior’s attack.
The strike Tae-hyun had just unleashed had definitely not been weak.
“Kgh!”
Rufo ground his teeth and stepped back.
The Specter Warrior’s strength was no joke.
Krrrhhh…
Blue spread out around the Specter Warrior, then shot outward in a wave.
It was the Specter Warrior’s skill, Death’s Frost Wave.
A terrifying ability that would freeze anyone the instant it hit.
But Rufo was no pushover either.
He shouted to Tae-hyun,
“Get behind me!”
Circle of Defense!
A powerful defensive technique formed from a single sword.
A thick circle traced itself around Rufo, so solid it looked like nothing could penetrate it.
Papapapapaat—
The freezing wave scattered and slid past its perimeter.
Rufo beckoned at the Specter Warrior.
“That’s all you’ve got!”
Intruder… insolent…
“Damn. That’s cold.”
“Tae-hyun-nim!?”
Only then did Rufo realize Tae-hyun hadn’t moved behind him at all.
Tae-hyun brushed chunks of ice off his clothes and complained.
At first he’d tensed up, but the spell’s hit rate wasn’t actually that high.
With Tae-hyun’s level of evasion, making it miss was easy enough.
“It’s stronger than I expected. I’ll handle it—just support me from the side.”
“No. I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”
Tae-hyun reached into his bag.
Rufo stared, flustered.
“What are you doing right now?”
What came out was a brilliantly blazing hammer.
“That thing obviously isn’t alive, right?”
“……?”
The Ancient Hammer couldn’t deal damage to living creatures.
Which meant…
It could deal damage to things that weren’t living.
The Specter Warrior instinctively took a step back.
An undead being—afraid.
That alone said everything.
Krrr… What… is that…?
“Lucky Strike. Lucky Strike. Lucky Strike… Circle of Attack!”
The light-blazing hammer swung.
KWA-A-A-ANG!
A critical hit has been triggered!
You used a swordsmanship skill with a hammer. A penalty has been applied.
Divine Dignity has removed the penalty.
You dealt tremendous damage to a powerful opponent. Swordsmanship skill proficiency has increased.
It was a shame using swordsmanship with a hammer, but there was no helping it.
From watching blacksmiths, Tae-hyun knew there seemed to be a separate hammer-combat style out there, but he hadn’t learned it yet.
Rather than start from scratch with something new, it was better to just use swordsmanship with a hammer even if there was a penalty.
Besides, thanks to being the Avatar of Archisus, that penalty might as well not exist.
KRAAAAAAH!