Chapter 22
Chapter 22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Cleanup Fee
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘I’m stuck in place, but Song Hana keeps getting stronger.’
Kang Hyun-soo’s level kept dropping back to 0 every time the skill enhancement cooldown ticked over.
Meanwhile, Song Hana’s level kept rising steadily.
The result?
Excluding summons, in terms of his own raw combat power...
‘She’s already on par with me.’
Through this battle, Song Hana’s level had surpassed 200.
In terms of stats?
Her combat power had grown to match a late-300s level player.
‘An incredible growth rate.’
Excluding Kang Hyun-soo?
Her growth speed would be the highest in history.
‘I need to get that skill soon.’
Only then could he fully trust Song Hana.
The problem was...
‘To get that skill, I have to evolve the One-Man Company into a One-Man Battalion.’
Kang Hyun-soo had only just managed to evolve his One-Man Platoon into a One-Man Company.
‘A One-Man Company is a powerful class, so growth isn’t easy.’
Up until now, it had grown quickly because the class rank was so low.
‘Things will be different from here on.’
Evolving a One-Man Company into a One-Man Battalion would take quite a bit of time.
‘For the time being, it’s fine.’
Kang Hyun-soo had invested all his stats into the Company Composition skill, and all his levels into growing Skill Replica.
Thanks to that, even after acquiring a new title, his raw combat power remained at late-300s player level.
‘At least the Squad Leader skill—which grows alongside the One-Man Company rank—reached D-Rank and became Company Commander, granting that bonus.’
The Company Commander skill at D-Rank boosted all stats by 10%.
A truly overpowered effect.
It was probably there to offset the drawback of a One-Man Company class, which constantly consumed stats to create summons.
He felt a slight pang of regret.
If he hadn’t used Company Composition and Skill Enhancement?
His stats would be on par with a 600s level player by now.
‘But then I wouldn’t have gotten 150 summons. The Company Commander skill would’ve stayed at Squad Leader, with only a 1% stat boost.’
The efficiency of skills from Replica would’ve plummeted too.
‘Stats can be raised later.’
Levels slow growth as they rise.
If Kang Hyun-soo had focused on leveling up?
The One-Man Squad class never would’ve evolved into a One-Man Company.
‘Whether from 0 to 100 or 200 to 300, the stats gained are the same anyway.’
But the experience needed to go from 200 to 300?
He could level from 0 to 100 five times over.
The efficiency difference was over fivefold.
‘I’m growing plenty fast as is.’
Kang Hyun-soo reassured himself.
Song Hana’s astonishing growth had just made him a bit anxious for a moment.
Right now, Kang Hyun-soo was growing far faster and more stably than Song Hana.
‘And I even have a way to fix the drawbacks of Company Composition and Skill Enhancement.’
Yukimura’s Skill Stat Fix.
The seal forgery needed to acquire it.
The man standing before Kang Hyun-soo would be the solution to that problem.
“Take me to Geo Guild’s headquarters.”
Kang Hyun-soo said to the sole survivor of the battle.
The survivor was Geo Guild’s vice-guildmaster.
When Oh Deok-gu fell and the tide fully turned, he’d betrayed his comrades and quickly surrendered.
“Understood.”
Geo Guild’s vice-guildmaster had cut a deal with Kang Hyun-soo.
Hand over all the guild’s resources in exchange for his life.
Kang Hyun-soo accepted, on the condition that the vice-guildmaster keep quiet about what he and Song Hana had done.
‘Geo Guild’s resources are one thing, but I absolutely need that seal forger.’
With the guild’s resources and main force wiped out, he could take it by force.
But finding the seal forger required the vice-guildmaster’s help.
‘I wonder how skilled they are.’
If all they could do was forge free citizen seals into slave seals?
The seal forger would be useless to Kang Hyun-soo.
But if not?
If they were skilled enough to forge a Terra Kingdom free citizen seal into another country’s free citizen seal?
‘We could head to Mulan Kingdom where Yukimura is.’
If he crossed into Mulan Kingdom and got Yukimura’s stat fix skill...
Kang Hyun-soo could grow even faster and more efficiently.
* * *
Thanks to Geo Guild’s vice-guildmaster’s guidance, Kang Hyun-soo and Song Hana easily entered the guild house.
“This is it.”
The vice-guildmaster pointed to the warehouse.
It was packed with items and skill books.
“They’ve hoarded quite a bit.”
Mostly F- to D-Rank, but there was a huge quantity.
There were even some rare C-Rank items and skill books.
“No gold?”
“Oh Deok-gu managed that personally, so I don’t know where it is.”
Geo Guild’s vice-guildmaster replied tensely to Kang Hyun-soo’s question.
“You don’t know, huh.”
“I-I swear.”
“I’ll believe you for now.”
“Thank you.”
The vice-guildmaster sighed in relief at Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“The seal forger’s here, right?”
“Yes.”
“Bring them now.”
“Understood.”
Geo Guild’s vice-guildmaster turned toward the door, seizing the chance.
“I can’t let you go alone. Miss Hana.”
“Yes, I’ll go with him.”
“If he tries anything funny, kill him on the spot.”
“Got it.”
At Kang Hyun-soo and Song Hana’s exchange, cold sweat trickled down the vice-guildmaster’s back as he headed out.
With Song Hana and the vice-guildmaster gone, Kang Hyun-soo was left alone in the warehouse.
‘There’s a ton.’
Even carrying it all would be a chore.
‘Not that I need to.’
Kang Hyun-soo infused mana into the Devouring Sword.
Shaaaa!
The Devouring Sword began greedily consuming the items.
‘If only it ate F-Ranks too.’
Picky eater that it was, it ignored F-Rank items.
Once its rank rose further?
‘It’ll probably snub E-Ranks too.’
Making it even harder to rank up the Devouring Sword.
D-Rank items were tough to acquire in bulk because low-tier players were so numerous.
C-Rank items were fairly rare and mainstays for mid-tier players.
‘B-Rank and up are hard to find and expensive.’
From then on, growing the Devouring Sword would get even tougher.
‘Still, grow quick.’
Kang Hyun-soo fed it the low-rank items first, one by one.
The items dwindled rapidly.
‘Will it be tough this time too?’
Having devoured hundreds in the last battle, he secretly hoped for a B-Rank upgrade.
But it failed in the end.
‘Here’s hoping it succeeds before they’re all gone.’
As the warehouse items decreased, Kang Hyun-soo’s impatience grew.
Then—
[The Devouring Sword has grown from C-Rank to B-Rank.]
The long-awaited system message appeared.
‘Success.’
A bright smile bloomed on Kang Hyun-soo’s face.
The Devouring Sword had finally reached B-Rank.
‘Wonder what options it got.’
The Devouring Sword gained options as it grew.
Kang Hyun-soo eagerly checked its info.
[Devouring Sword - B-Rank]
-Unique Item
-Grows by absorbing other items.
-Attack power increased by 20%.
-Attack speed increased by 20%.
-Piercing chance increased by 20%.
-Absorbs enemy blood and flesh to recover health and heal wounds.
‘Jackpot.’
Seeing the fifth option, Kang Hyun-soo’s face lit up with a beaming smile.
The attack power, speed, and piercing boosts were great, of course.
But those could be overcome with other gear or higher stats.
The fifth option was on another level.
‘Health and wound recovery. That’s like two options in one.’
Mana recovery missing was a slight letdown.
But...
‘I can cover that with the Mana Heart.’
The Mana Heart grew slowly but steadily.
As Replica’s rank rose, so did the Mana Heart’s efficiency.
For Kang Hyun-soo, the fifth option let him acquire all the long-battle utility skills.
Health recovery, mana recovery, wound healing.
‘Not just for PvP—huge for monster hunting too.’
The reason he didn’t overdo monster hunts was the risk of health/mana depletion and injury.
But with Mana Heart and Devouring Sword?
He could hunt more aggressively.
‘My growth speed’s about to accelerate.’
Kang Hyun-soo absorbed the remaining items into the Devouring Sword.
Then he gathered the smaller skill books.
‘Anything useful?’
He meticulously checked each one as he collected them.
Most were unnecessary.
But occasionally, gems appeared.
Like now.
‘Oh?’
Kang Hyun-soo spotted a C-Rank skill book.
‘Final Shield.’
Activating it nullified one enemy attack skill.
‘Long cooldown, but super useful.’
It was also a skill he already had via Replica.
Kang Hyun-soo monopolized items from loot, giving all skill books to Song Hana instead.
She learned any worthwhile ones instead of selling them.
‘And I copy the skills she learns with Replica.’
The more good skills she had, the more he had—a win-win.
‘But duplicates change everything.’
Replica skills and learned skills could stack.
In simple terms, if Kang Hyun-soo learned Final Shield from the book?
He’d have Replica Final Shield and Book Final Shield.
Two copies of the same skill.
Even before regression, he’d profited nicely from this.
Having two of a trump card others could only have one? Obvious advantage.
‘Let’s learn it.’
Kang Hyun-soo acquired the Final Shield skill book.
That instant—
[You have acquired Active Skill Final Shield C-Rank.]
[Active Skill Final Shield C-Rank has been absorbed into the Guardian Ring.]
[The Guardian Ring has grown from F-Rank to E-Rank.]
The Guardian Ring, which hadn’t budged despite every trick in the book, shot straight to E-Rank.
‘What?’
Kang Hyun-soo’s face twisted in bewilderment.
‘The Guardian Ring grows on defense skills?’
He’d tried everything, thinking it worked like the Devouring Sword.
No dice.
‘It doesn’t eat items—it eats skills to grow.’
He’d never heard of items growing this way, even before regression.
‘A normal player would’ve figured it out quick.’
Most learned at least one defense skill.
But Kang Hyun-soo had no need.
Replica was more efficient than skill books.
‘The ring doesn’t absorb Replica skills—that’s why I didn’t know. Shame.’
Learning its condition late stung less than it not taking Replicas.
If it could absorb Replicas?
‘I could’ve grown it infinitely.’
With enough stacks and mana, he could generate endless skills via Replica.
‘Better late than never.’
Now he knew: learn defense skills from books to grow the ring.
‘Let’s check the options.’
Kang Hyun-soo viewed the Guardian Ring’s info.