Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Voice
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Swoooosh!!
The sound of wind rushed past his ears.
It was the result of his speed doubling, on top of using the Charge skill.
Normally, such a sudden increase in physical ability could be disorienting.
But for Lee Shin, who had been afflicted by all sorts of curses in the past, this level of change was already familiar.
Thanks to that, he immediately got the hang of it and swung his sword swiftly at the orc before him.
*Spurt!*
*Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!*
[Critical Hit stacks are accumulating.]
[Critical Hit stacks are accumulating.]
[Critical Hit stacks are...]
Lee Shin's multi-hit attacks rapidly built up his critical hit stacks.
On top of that, with the insane attack power buff already active, the damage from even his light slashes was beyond imagination.
The targeted orc couldn't withstand the explosive damage and was instantly obliterated.
[You have slain an enemy.]
[The effect of Serial Murder has been reset.]
[A critical hit has landed.]
[You have slain an enemy.]
"Kueek!!"
[Critical Hit stacks have reached the maximum (10)!]
[Your next attack will now...]
*Fwoosh!*
Lee Shin's sword blazed with a red light.
Seeing this, the orcs flinched.
Having just suffered from it, they reacted instinctively.
Charge!
While they hesitated, Lee Shin leaped into the middle of the orc horde.
It was an attempt to detonate his critical hit stacks in the center of their formation to deal maximum damage.
However, this was easier said than done and was an extremely risky move.
The orcs, having been hit once, weren't just going to stand by.
Just as expected, the frenzied orcs swung their hammers and axes with all their might.
"Chueek! Kill him!"
"Human!"
Attacks poured in from all directions!
There were so many that it felt as if they were erasing any space to dodge.
Even for someone with Lee Shin's exceptional control, a situation like this could be dangerous.
It was hard to dodge, and his health stat was low.
One wrong move and he could be taken out in a single blow.
"Hoo..."
But Lee Shin hadn't jumped into the middle of the enemies without a plan.
His plan was to meticulously evade only the attacks aimed at his vitals and endure the rest.
There was a calculation behind this.
*'The buff will kick in.'*
One of the effects of Serial Murder.
The calculation was that the 100% increase in evasion rate would take care of these minor attacks.
And Lee Shin's calculation proved to be spot on.
[You evade the attack.]
[You evade the attack.]
[You evade...]
[...You have consecutively evaded attacks!]
[Agility increases by 1.]
*'Just as I thought.'*
A continuous stream of evasion messages!
It was the result of the skill's absolute bonus combined with Lee Shin's delicate control.
Of course, since it only increased the probability, he still got hit messages from time to time...
[Health: 93%]
*'This much is fine.'*
It was a negligible amount.
Even after taking all those hits, Lee Shin's health was still over ninety percent.
"Chueeek?!"
"Why aren't the attacks..."
The orcs stumbled about in confusion.
Lee Shin used that opening to detonate all the critical hit stacks he had accumulated.
A crimson sword aura swept through the area.
[You have slain the target.]
[You have slain the target.]
[You have slain...]
The orcs were dropping dead.
Lee Shin's experience points shot up, and the effect of Serial Murder was renewed...
[...A scene of slaughter!]
[The area is filled with resentment.]
[The resentment gathers, imbuing your sword with a dense aura of death!]
Along with a message he had never seen before, a dark luster settled upon Lee Shin's sword.
Probably an additional effect of Killing Intent.
Lee Shin paused, startled.
"...Ah, right."
Come to think of it, there was this too.
He had gained so much at once that he had briefly forgotten about it.
And Killing Intent was an ability he had never encountered before in all his time playing games.
Lee Shin checked the detailed information.
Killing Intent
•Killing Intent (殺氣) is a powerful resentment born from the desire to kill enemies.
•Attacks imbued with Killing Intent have a chance to inflict harmful effects on the enemy.
•You can instantly kill enemies below a certain health threshold (0.7%).
•This effect grows stronger as your Killing Intent deepens.
"…!"
Lee Shin's eyes widened.
He had been expecting an effect that was, at best, some additional damage...
But this was an incredible effect that far surpassed his expectations!
*'Is this what it means to be a legendary class?'*
He had never seen an execute effect for enemies below a certain health threshold before.
Of course, right now it only activated on near-death enemies, so it didn't seem very significant, but it was clear that would change as his stats and level increased.
On top of that, the ability to inflict harmful effects by chance was also quite useful.
*Slice!*
[This is an attack imbued with intense Killing Intent.]
[The target is now Bleeding.]
[The target is now Confused...]
[The target is now Delirious...]
*'Ha.'*
Lee Shin was amazed.
All sorts of effects from a single swing!
*'So this is how it works.'*
Truly a legendary class.
The number of skills was still small, but each one clearly held immense potential.
Such a rare ability was especially likely to be a major factor in PvP, where split-second decisions were crucial.
The most necessary ability for Lee Shin, who would one day become a plunderer!
Lee Shin continued his assault.
Thanks to the constantly refreshing effect of Serial Murder, his hunting speed was incredibly fast.
As a result, the surrounding resentment grew stronger, and the Killing Intent on Lee Shin's sword deepened.
*Stab!*
[A fatal attack!]
[The enemy is now suffering from Severe Bleeding.]
[The thick scent of blood spreads.]
[Orcs are drawn by the scent of blood and are swarming in!]
*Thump, thump, thump, thump!*
"…!"
With a violent tremor, orcs began to swarm in from all directions.
Their numbers were incomparably greater than when he had first spotted them.
In a situation like this without a priest, a failure in health management could easily lead to death.
"......"
But instead of retreating, Lee Shin took an item from his inventory.
The item he received from Kilgeo.
Smoke Bomb
•Scatters smoke powder to obstruct vision. Vision will slowly return after 90 seconds.
As soon as he saw the orcs had surrounded him, Lee Shin detonated the smoke bomb.
*Poof!*
"Chuek?"
"Human! Can't see!"
The orcs fell into confusion.
Of course, Lee Shin couldn't see well either, but it didn't matter much.
Since they were all enemies anyway, there was no need to distinguish friend from foe.
Just seeing their rough silhouettes was enough.
[Critical Hit stacks have reached the maximum.]
[Now, consuming all stacks...]
*'First Hidden Sword, activate.'*
Having reached the maximum stacks, Lee Shin activated the Hidden Sword and gripped his sword tightly.
Then, he twisted his waist with all his might and detonated the critical hit stacks.
.......
There was no sound from the sword.
But.
[You have defeated a large group of orcs!]
[You have acquired experience points.]
[You have acquired experience points.]
[You have acquired...]
[The effect of Serial Murder...]
[The resentment grows...]
[......]
"Kuaaaargh!!"
"Chueek!?"
The belated, panicked screams spoke of the result.
And the ones most surprised by the screams were none other than the remaining orcs who hadn't been caught in the attack.
"Chuek! Where are you?!"
"Human! Come out!"
The orcs shouted at an opponent they couldn't even see.
Lee Shin used the opening to continuously change his position and continue his attacks.
*Shwwing!*
He didn't forget to create confusion by repeatedly activating and deactivating his Hidden Sword.
An intelligent move, testing the relatively crude AI of the orcs!
The result.
"Chuek…?"
"This, not human? A ghost!?"
[The orcs fall into extreme confusion.]
[The orcs begin to confuse friend and foe!]
"Keeek! I don't know!"
"Stay back! I'll attack if you come near!"
Unable to bear the frustration, the orcs began attacking in all directions.
But Lee Shin already had the increased evasion rate buff from Serial Murder.
So their wild swings didn't pose much of a threat.
In fact, the damage they inflicted on themselves was far greater.
"Where are you attacking... Gak!"
"Kuaaaargh!?"
The orcs landed brutal attacks on each other with their hammers and axes!
Lee Shin watched them for a moment before detonating a second smoke bomb.
*'I can take them all.'*
* * *
*Thwack!*
A shuriken cut through the air and embedded itself precisely in the orc's brow.
Its health had already been depleted, so it was executed by the Killing Intent effect.
It was the last remaining orc.
"Hoo."
[You have single-handedly subjugated a large orc contingent in the orc-infested area!]
[Fame increases slightly.]
[You have acquired a large amount of experience points.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[......]
[The proficiency of Search has greatly increased.]
[The proficiency of Charge has greatly increased.]
[The proficiency of Critical Hit Stack-Explosion has...]
[The proficiency of Critical Hit Enhancement has...]
[The first Secret Art...]
[......]
[You have achieved a great massacre!]
[The Killing Intent stat has greatly increased.]
A whole lot of things went up.
The notification window scrolled up so fast it was hard to follow with his eyes.
[You have surpassed Level 60.]
[The probability of encountering NPCs related to Secret Art skills will now increase.]
[The longer you go without encountering a related NPC, the higher the probability will become.]
After reading the messages, Lee Shin nodded in understanding.
He had been wondering just how he was supposed to find the lost skills.
*'So this is how it works.'*
It seemed that every time he reached a certain level, system assistance like this would appear.
*'It's just telling me to wander around a lot.'*
It wasn't a particularly difficult condition.
Lee Shin was the type to wander wherever his heart took him anyway.
He liked it even more because it wasn't a bothersome requirement, but something he could do whenever he felt like it.
"Status Window."
Lee Shin
•Level: 64
•Class: Salseong
…….
•Killing Intent: 107
•Fame: 1,100
•Infamy: 1,007,400
*'Oh?'*
Lee Shin's eyes went wide.
His fame had risen more than he expected!
Of course, it was a drop in the bucket compared to his infamy, but that was true for all his stats.
Considering he'd raised it purely through hunting without any quests, it was a considerable amount.
*'Come to think of it, I need to keep raising my infamy too.'*
It was already the highest among all players worldwide, but it needed to be even higher.
For one, the damage from Incarnation of Malice was tied to it...
And then there was the Concentration of Malice he'd received as a special reward.
There were still 117 days left until it hatched.
He had to keep committing evil deeds to reduce the remaining time, if only because he was curious about what was inside.
*'Not that I can do it right now.'*
Of course, for now, the cursed item was the top priority.
Lee Shin dismissed his thoughts and turned the navigation back on.
[Resuming route guidance.]
[Time remaining...]
* * *
The journey, which he had expected to be incredibly boring.
But surprisingly, there was no time to be bored.
"Chueeek!! Human!?"
"Forest... no food... boil and eat human!"
"Get him!"
Orcs popping out wherever he went!
And because their numbers had swelled so much, they were probably short on food, as they charged at him with extreme ferocity.
From Lee Shin's perspective, who wanted to test his new skills in various ways, this wasn't a bad thing at all.
[You have acquired experience points.]
[Level Up!]
"Hoo."
Plus, he was even leveling up along the way.
Lee Shin wiped the sweat from his brow with a satisfied expression.
Then, gripping his sword that glowed a dark crimson, he turned his gaze toward the remaining orcs.
"…!"
At that, the orcs flinched and backed away!
Because Lee Shin had killed so many of them, the orcs' reactions had changed accordingly.
From feeling like they were hunting lost prey, to feeling like they were battling the arch-enemy of their race.
Of course, that didn't change the outcome.
Quickly sizing them up, Lee Shin kicked off the ground and charged.
And he used his skill half a beat faster than the usual timing.
Charge.
Critical Hit Explosion.
A clean combo.
[...slain more than 10 within...!]
[The effect of Serial Murder...]
Perfect damage calculation.
And then.
"W-Wait a minute!"
A single orc with completely unexpected, perfectly clear pronunciation.
So surprised, Lee Shin momentarily missed his step, and his attack faltered.
Taking that as a sign that he would listen, the orc hurriedly continued.
"Please spare me! I'm a user!"
"...!!!!"