Holy Body

"Haah! Haah! Haah!"

Jin-soo heaved out ragged breaths.

Is it over?

The pain had been so immense he half-wished he had simply lost consciousness.

And the smell is foul.

The stench came from the murky sweat soaking him head to toe, and from the flakes of sloughed skin stuck fast to his body.

A quick wipe will do.

He drew a damp cloth from his storage pouch and cleaned himself off.

Status window.

With the source of the smell dealt with, Jin-soo opened his status window.

Nothing looks particularly different. Wait—

Scanning the information, his eyes went wide.

A constitution entry that had never existed before had been added.

Did the status window even have something like this?

He had never gained any particular constitution before the regression. He had not even known that constitutions existed.

Jin-soo called up the information on Holy Body.

Only one option.

That was fine.

It's level 2. Of course there's only one.

The options would multiply on their own as Holy Body's level rose.

There were system messages, too.

The pain had been so severe he had never properly read them.

Enduring it was worth it.

The reward for bearing the agony of bone and muscle twisting out of shape had come as a rise in Holy Body's efficiency.

This is big.

Right now it was only level 2, with a single option, so even an increase in efficiency amounted to very little. Once the level climbed and the options multiplied, the situation would change. That one line—Holy Body's efficiency increases—would be amplified to its limit.

Test it first.

Jin-soo lightly cast Fire Arrow.

Flame roared up. A single fire arrow hung in the empty air.

Fast.

Jin-soo's face brightened. The amount of mana he could draw at once, the speed, the efficiency—all of it had risen.

At this rate, it might be better than a Demon Spirit Divine Pill.

And if he took a Demon Spirit Divine Pill on top of already possessing a Holy Body?

My mana efficiency will surpass even the body I had before the regression.

Raise mana efficiency, and the same stats could put out greater power.

The problem is that it's limited to Holy-type jobs.

The solution was simple.

Find a Dark Body Pellet.

If a Holy Body Pellet existed, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dark Body Pellet had to exist as well. He had gained a Holy Body by consuming the one; consuming the other ought to grant him a Dark Body.

The question is whether one person can hold two constitutions.

Jin-soo fixed on the fact that constitution had been added to the status window.

The inactive window has no constitution stat.

That was as good as saying the window that held his Dark-type jobs could acquire a constitution of its own.

Still. I should confirm it.

Jin-soo used Status Window Switch.

Huh?

The instant the skill took hold, he felt the mana moving through his body turn awkward and unnatural.

My body is different.

He drew mana up and cast a Dark-type job skill.

Slow. But faster than before.

The flow was sluggish enough that the gap between it and his Holy-type skills was unmistakable. Even so, set against the time before he had gained Holy Body, the mana was clearly quicker, if only by a little.

It was never simply a matter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of job skills.

Holy Body's listed option said nothing more than that Holy-type job skills would flow more smoothly. Reality disagreed.

The quantity and quality of the mana running through the circuits have changed in themselves.

Not only Holy skills, but Dark skills and common skills flowed faster as well.

The option on display isn't the whole of it.

He had a reason now to get his hands on a Dark Body, no matter what.

For now, get out.

He would have to search the hidden dungeons more diligently, and more thoroughly.

The Demon Spirit Divine Pill was never the important part.

Rare and expensive as it was, the pill at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠least appeared at the auction house. Holy Body Pellets and Dark Body Pellets did not.

Find a Dark Body Pellet. Obtain a Dark Body.

In that instant, Jin-soo's highest priority changed.

"Kweeeek!"

"Kyaaauk!"

Every time Jin-soo swung his sword, monsters were swept away.

The reward for clearing the hidden dungeon was an Endurance Spirit Pill.

An elixir that raises the Endurance stat.

Unfortunately, it was an ordinary elixir.

A dud.

Jin-soo left the dungeon with a disappointed look. In truth, calling an elixir ordinary and regretting it as a dud was absurd on its face. Elixirs were not items one obtained so easily. But Jin-soo was the exception. He could solo a hidden dungeon built for dozens pooling their strength, and claim the reward entirely for himself.

Floor 31 of the Tower is finished.

He had combed every inch of it on the way up, and there were no hidden dungeons left. He checked the time, cleared Floor 31, and climbed to Floor 32.

Finally rising.

The blessings that had not grown even once until now finally advanced the moment he set foot on Floor 32. Jin-soo checked his status window.

Physical attack power and physical skill attack power went from 12.2% to 22.2%.

It was what he had expected, and still a little disappointing. He would rather have seen his base stats rise, or the rate at which stats increased.

Well. It's not a loss.

He threw himself at once into earning Floor 32's titles and hunting for hidden dungeons.

Desert type.

Floor 32 was desert from end to end, sand in every direction, a savage sun beating down out of the sky.

Is this even really a tower?

A sky inside the Tower, and a sun hanging in it—absurd no matter how many times he looked. If Jin-soo, a veteran among veterans, felt that way, how much worse must it be for the newcomers?

Water is going to matter.

Players who had failed to stock plenty of it on Floor 31 were more likely to die of thirst than of monsters. Jin-soo drew his robe up over his head against the sunlight and walked on.

Mid-stride, he stabbed his sword into the ground. A sharp screech answered. When he drew the blade free, the corpse of a sand lizard that had been hiding in the sand came up with it.

"Kieeeek!"

In the same instant, sand lizards erupted from every direction.

Here it starts.

Jin-soo swung both swords and cut them down. Steel bit and parted flesh. Shrieks tore the air, and sand-lizard blood spattered across the dry sand. The fight was over almost at once.

They'll swarm soon.

In desert terrain, monsters were sensitive to the smell of blood.

Blood is water, too.

He had restored his stamina with Blood Drain, the job skill of the Blood Demon Swordsman, and the Blood-Sucking Sword had drunk whatever remained—but the thick scent had already spread in every direction. The Jin-soo of before the regression would have fled before the others arrived. Now there was no need.

If the prey is kind enough to come to me, I ought to be grateful.

He wet his throat with water from his storage pouch. A low tremor rose under his feet.

Another sand lizard? Or a sand mole?

He waited, calm—then drove his sword into the sand.

"Kieeeeeek!"

A sand mole more than three meters long burst out shrieking. Jin-soo triggered a skill, punched straight through its skull, and snuffed out its life.

"Kyaaaaa!"

That was only the beginning. From the sand mole onward, every sort of desert monster converged on where he stood. Kill the ones that came, and the blood flung wide in the process spread the scent again, and that scent called still more. If you could not handle it, it was a death-wave of monsters with no end in sight. If you could, it was nothing but a prime hunting ground where the monsters delivered themselves.

He drove his sword into a sand lizard's head.

Is that the end?

The wave that had kept pouring in was finally over.

Might as well look.

The monsters were dealt with. Now he needed a hidden dungeon.

Deserts are straightforward.

At a glance, a place with nothing but sand seemed a hard place to find one.

It's actually easier.

Small changes stood out all the more.

Before the regression, survival came first. I never even thought of looking for hidden dungeons.

Even if he had found one, he probably would not have gone in. Clear a hidden dungeon and the reward was great. Fail, and you died on the spot. Faintly, the ordeal of arriving at the Tower's first desert came back to him.

Scorched by the heat all day. Frozen at night.

The worst of it had been thirst.

I barely survived by purifying monster blood and drinking it.

Things were very different now.

It ought to be around here.

The far edge of the dune field. The sand inhaled him.

"Hahaha!"

A satisfied laugh burst from Jin-soo's mouth.

So this is where it drops.

A shame it was not a Dark Body Pellet, but there was nothing to complain about.

I need Demon Spirit Divine Pills too.

He could buy them with points, but a mission-clear reward came far cheaper. While he was still pleased with it, the sand scorpions attacked. He sheared the venom-stinger tail from one with the sword in his left hand, and the Blood-Sucking Sword in his right punched through its brain. He cut through the rest at speed.

Hard carapace, huge pincers, a tail armed with venom—among desert monsters, sand scorpions were especially troublesome. To Jin-soo they were not much different from the rest. That did not mean there was no problem.

There are too many of them.

Cutting them down one by one with a sword would take far too long.

Status Window Switch.

He flipped the window over to his Holy affinity.

Flame Storm.

Fire roared, and then the blast. With a tremendous detonation, the sand scorpions charging him were annihilated in a single stroke.

Against a crowd, a mage is best.

Smiling, Jin-soo rapid-fired Fire Arrow. Whenever the cooldown came back around, he loosed the area skill, Flame Storm. Foes that would have taken more than ten minutes of close-quarters hacking fell in under a minute.

The mission-clear reward was a Demon Spirit Divine Pill.

Take it now.

There was no point hoarding one. It was best consumed at once. Jin-soo tipped the pill into his mouth.

What?

Surprise washed over Jin-soo's face. He had consumed Demon Spirit Divine Pills before the regression as well, but the system message had not been this.

Back then, it said my mana circuits had expanded.

Now the message said the efficiency of Holy Body had risen. He closed his eyes, turned his mana, and quietly took stock of his body.

The pill's efficiency went up.

His mana circuits had expanded, of course, and both the flow of mana and the amount he could draw at once had increased.

Status Window Switch.

He switched from the Holy window to the Dark window.

It slowed hard.

Mana that had been racing down an open highway was cut in half in an instant.

Still better than before the pill.

Both the speed of the mana and the volume he could move at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once had risen.

But the effect is weaker.

For a Demon Spirit Divine Pill, the change was far too small.

Is that only natural?

This was not the effect of consuming the pill itself.

It's the effect of Holy Body's efficiency rising.

Instead of exerting its original power, the Demon Spirit Divine Pill had become fertilizer that increased Holy Body's efficiency.

That's actually better.

Without a Holy Body, the pill would have expanded his mana circuits the same way whether the window was Holy or Dark.

In exchange, a second pill would have lost most of its effect.

Before the regression, Jin-soo had taken a Demon Spirit Divine Pill three times.

The first time, the efficiency was tremendous.

The second had given him only a tenth of the first. And the third?

I just threw the points away.

He had swallowed it and gained nothing at all.

This time is different.

The pill had been absorbed into Holy Body.

Normally, a second Demon Spirit Divine Pill sees its efficiency collapse.

But what if he took one after gaining a Dark Body, rather than a Holy Body?

The pill will become fertilizer for the Dark Body's growth.

Then even a second dose could yield a hundred percent of its effect, or more.

And that isn't the end of it.

Taken plain, the effect plunged from the second dose and vanished from the third. Now that the pills served as fertilizer for a Holy Body or a Dark Body, the situation had changed.

At least four will work, without fail.

With luck, even more was possible. Holy Body and Dark Body were powers he had never obtained, even before the regression.

The difference a constitution makes is considerable.

The same job, the same skills, the same stats could produce entirely different power depending on whether one possessed them.

I need to secure as many Demon Spirit Divine Pills as I can.

If he could not find them himself, he would spend points to get them.

Before that, of course, a Dark Body Pellet comes first.

Jin-soo left the dungeon and set himself moving, diligent, in search of the next hidden dungeon.