Neutralized Behemoth's Blood

"This is the one."

Drink this single flask, and his Magic would jump by a full sixty—the kind of gain an ordinary player would have to climb twenty levels to match. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only disappointment was that Neutralized Behemoth's Blood took effect just once.

Doesn't matter.

If anything, he thought, this worked out better. He wasn't alone. Yujun summoned Paranet at once.

"Master! You called for me!"

"Keep it down. This isn't a battlefield."

"Yes."

"This is for you."

"What is it?"

"Check it yourself."

Paranet accepted the flask of Behemoth's Blood.

"Y-you're... giving this to me?"

"Yeah."

"Why? What is it you want in return?"

Suspicion came first, as it always did.

"Hey. When have I ever handed you an item because I wanted something back?"

"I-I'm sorry."

"I've got a spare. That's all."

"Understood!"

Paranet was openly delighted. The summon was already wearing the mythic-grade ring taken from Guardian Horidan, and that ring carried an option ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that raised every stat except Magic by an amount ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠equal to his Magic.

An item made for Paranet, basically.

Thanks to Horidan's ring, drinking the Behemoth's Blood would yield three times the efficiency—four, even—compared to anyone else. Put simply, Paranet would drink the blood and his stats would rise by two hundred and forty in total.

At this rate, is he actually going to end up stronger than me?

If the summon picked up a few more skills, it might happen. For now Yujun stayed ahead only because of the Primordial Player ability, his titles, and his items.

I really shouldn't be handing out mythic-grade items if I can help it. A master has his pride.

Whether or not Paranet had any sense of those thoughts, he simply beamed, clutching the Behemoth's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Blood.

But will it even work on an undead?

The worry proved pointless. Paranet drank the blood and all but bounced where he stood.

"Master! Power is overflowing! I wish to fight this instant!"

"You've grown. Feels like only yesterday you were calling yourself a coward."

"...Hm. Please forget the me of the past."

"Well, I'm glad it works."

Reassured, Yujun drank the Behemoth's Blood as well. He opened his status window at once, and his Magic had risen by exactly sixty.

Sixty Magic. Just like that. The weight of a base stat needed no explaining.

I'm a little curious about Paranet's stats, too.

Since the thought had occurred to him, he pulled up Paranet's information.

"...Crazy bastard."

"Yes?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Understood."

Paranet's stats were absurd. Sometimes, when the summon leveled up, his stats rose by four at a time—possible only because his caliber had climbed so high. On top of that, the sixty Magic he had just gained had raised every other stat by sixty as well. The numbers were so high it was hard to believe this was a summon who hadn't even reached level 200.

Strip away my percentage bonuses, and our stats are about even.

A dry laugh escaped him. Horidan's ring was, without question, a broken item. The problem was that its conditions were far too restrictive for him to wear it himself.

Still, him getting stronger is good for me...

Even so, the feeling sat strangely.

The Species Tournament had yielded a great deal, and killing demons had raised his level on top of that. Afterward he had met Kim Heeyeon and cleared a hidden dungeon, gone to the Black Market and become a VVIP, and even obtained a rare material—Behemoth's Blood—that let him boost his Magic by a wide margin.

And all of that happened over just a few days...

Growing quickly, though, was no reason to grow comfortable where he stood.

They also said that if I don't reach the top of the Tower, Earth will be destroyed.

It was closer to instinct than to any reasoned conclusion, but he had a feeling that in the end he would be the one who had to stop the Demon God's Invasion. It wasn't that he carried some mission to protect Earth. It simply felt as though that was truly how things would turn out.

Judged objectively, though, at my current pace it doesn't look entirely impossible.

There was no time to rest. Yujun decided to find a hunting ground where he could raise his level.

I wonder if Heeyeon's found another dungeon.

Even for her, finding a dungeon in a single day was too much to ask. He thought so—and opened his messenger anyway.

"Hm?"

A message had arrived, and it wasn't from Kim Heeyeon. It was from Hong Yeji.

That was the whole of Hong Yeji's message.

What is this.

Hong Yeji was not his private informant, nor his news source. So what was that message? The reason she would suddenly send something like it, once he thought it through, was simple. She wanted to look good in front of him. Or maybe she had just struck up a conversation because she wanted to get closer.

Still, I'm grateful.

There was no proof that what she had said was accurate.

Should I wander the residential district and dig up some information?

Nothing was more galling than taking a hit because you hadn't known. If Hong Yeji was telling the truth, he needed to find out what on earth was happening in the Kingdom of Sitahel.

Oh. Right.

He didn't need to go sniffing through the residential district for unreliable rumors. There was a better method. His inventory. Put that all-purpose fixer to work, and the problem took care of itself.

Asking Hong Yeji for more is an option too... but I can't fully trust that woman.

Yujun searched his inventory for a single item. Tens of thousands of consumables filled it, and picking the one he wanted out of all of them was no simple task. Only after a full ten minutes did he find what he was after.

Found it.

The name was certainly long. He had no idea what the developers had been thinking when they made it, but used at the right moment, nothing was more useful. The effect was exactly what the option said. Before stepping into a hunting ground or a place known to be extremely dangerous, using this item was standard practice.

Of course, I was pretty much the only one who actually made a habit of it...

The price was a full 199,000 won in cash—close to two hundred dollars. Steep for a cash-shop item, but in exchange for information you could trust, it earned every coin.

Time to invest.

Where his own safety was concerned, Yujun had no intention of skimping on items. He took out a pen and wrote the words Kingdom of Sitahel on the parchment.

No.

He changed his mind and added several more words.

"Hm."

A satisfied smile crossed Yujun's face. Even he had to admit the wording was about right. He fed magic into the parchment.

No wind was blowing, and yet the parchment began to flap hard. Warmth spread from it—and in that instant, letters began to surface on the reverse side.

It's starting.

Eyes wide, Yujun read the words as they were inscribed.

With that, no new letters appeared on the parchment.

Yujun rested his chin on his hand. Seeing the Storyteller's writing after so long had left him with one question.

What exactly is the Storyteller?

Even back in War of the Gods, the answers had been so human that he'd wondered whether an admin was responding in its place. And then there was that ominous line, nearly a prophecy. Surely it wasn't something like a god?

Yujun shook his head. He turned his thoughts to what came next.

The plague will be dangerous, but I have a countermeasure.

That countermeasure, too, was sitting in his inventory.

Am I relying on the inventory too much...?

That wasn't a bad thing. Using what you already had was the sensible choice. Yujun turned the parchment's contents over once more.

There's a way to prepare for the plague, and it hands out plenty of experience. And if I can loot the dwarven palace storehouse while I'm at it, so much the better.

But it wanted him to bring a companion? Did he even have one? Paranet was a summon, so he probably wouldn't count.

Throwing in a line like that just to confuse people.

Even so, he couldn't let the Storyteller's words go in one ear and out the other. What the Storyteller said was generally right. No—it had never once been wrong. He spoke only of what he knew for certain.

I'll have to take someone with me.

Preferably someone who wasn't dead weight. A player who could pull their own weight. He scrolled through his messenger. No one suitable.

Is this really the extent of my connections?

He went on lamenting, and in the end he settled on one person.

Her showing in the last Species Tournament had left an impression. Her strength didn't seem all that far behind, and she didn't look like she would get in the way. That person was Hong Yeji. Above all, she was the one who had brought up the Kingdom of Sitahel in the first place.

"......"

Was recruiting her supposed to be this easy?