Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Curse of the Plague (4)
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“Phew! That was easy.”
Rokan spoke lightly, as if he’d just gone for a jog, but what he had accomplished was anything but light.
Smashing over twenty old grave skeletons in just ten minutes and breaking through a third of the dungeon—how could that possibly be considered easy? And this was in a dungeon with levels far higher than his own.
It was an achievement in itself, one that wouldn’t be out of place to boast about, but the system didn’t react. Compared to the feats he’d already accomplished, this wasn’t anything new.
“Let’s see...”
Even Rokan, who had charged ahead without pause, stopped briefly at a certain point to catch his breath. From here on, different enemies would appear.
He wasn’t afraid, but he figured it was time for a quick regroup.
<Rokan>
[Race] Human [Gender] Male
[Level] 22 [Class] Berserker
[Owned Titles] Born Fighter, Heavenly Fighter, Descendant of David, Man of 17 vs 1, Nothing is Impossible!, Super Hard Worker, Local Champion, Unyielding Will, Killed Orc Champion at Lv1, Honored Orc Warrior, Rat Hunter, Truth Seer, Explorer
[HP] 1,110/1,110 [Mana] 30/150
[Hunger] 10 [Thirst] 7 [Status] Normal
[Strength] 132 [Agility] 63 [Vitality] 111
[Toughness] 96 [Intelligence] 15 [Wisdom] 12
[Weight/Total Weight] 89/300
[Spare Stat Points] 105
Since killing the orc champion, he hadn’t felt the need to allocate his spare stat points and had left them untouched, but now over a hundred had piled up. He didn’t need to invest them right away, but to boost his hunting speed even a little, he dumped them in decisively.
<Rokan>
[Race] Human [Gender] Male
[Level] 22 [Class] Berserker
[Owned Titles] Born Fighter, Heavenly Fighter, Descendant of David, Man of 17 vs 1, Nothing is Impossible!, Super Hard Worker, Local Champion, Unyielding Will, Killed Orc Champion at Lv1, Honored Orc Warrior, Rat Hunter, Truth Seer, Explorer
[HP] 1,200/1,200 [Mana] 30/390
[Hunger] 10 [Thirst] 7 [Status] Normal
[Strength] 200 [Agility] 63 [Vitality] 120
[Toughness] 100 [Intelligence] 39 [Wisdom] 12
[Weight/Total Weight] 89/300
[Spare Stat Points] 0
“Not bad at all.”
His Strength stat alone had reached a whopping 200! An absolutely staggering number.
It wasn’t just a numerical change—as soon as he allocated the points, he felt power surging through him.
If an old grave skeleton appeared now, he could probably crush its skull with his grip strength alone.
“Now I need to work on skill proficiencies too...”
On top of that, he’d invested heavily in Intelligence this time. To increase his maximum mana and raise the proficiency needed for skill level-ups. With Vitality at exactly 120 and Toughness at 100, he felt a swell of satisfaction.
Compared to his prime, these stats were still pathetic, but at least he felt ready for a proper fight.
“Alright, let’s aim for exactly 30.”
Raising 10 levels in just three days? He’d already gained 2, but declaring he’d gain 8 more—Rokan knew better than anyone how absurd that sounded.
Yet strangely, he didn’t think it would be difficult. No, he even felt he might have time to spare.
He gripped his axe again and headed deeper inside.
Clack clack!
As he crossed the ‘boundary,’ the sound of skeletons walking returned. At the familiar creaking of bones colliding without cartilage, Rokan immediately prepared to charge.
[Grave Skeleton][Lv 27]
Its appearance was similar, but it differed from the ones he’d faced earlier. The bones were whiter and tougher. No ‘old’ title, and its level was 2 higher.
“Dash! Strike!”
Crack!
To Rokan, it was just a bit more satisfying to smash.
Swoosh!
At that moment, something whizzed past his cheek with a sharp whoosh.
[Grave Skeleton Archer][Lv 28]
Now an archer had joined the mix. In the narrow cave terrain, the archer fired without regard for its allies, its momentum fierce.
“Time to really warm up!”
But Rokan welcomed its arrival.
He slashed diagonally at the grave skeleton blocking his path, shattering it from the collarbone down, then stomped the falling skull to dust as he charged forward.
“Die...!”
More grave skeletons appeared next, but he ignored them. He twisted his body lightly to dodge the incoming arrows and slammed into one shoulder-first.
Shoulder Charge!
Thanks to his Toughness stat boosting his base defense, his hardened shoulder caved in the enemy’s chest like a cannonball.
It wasn’t a skill yet, but this was one of Rokan’s favorite techniques from his past life.
“Firing... killing...”
“Eat this!”
As it crumpled, he spun around. He hurled a throwing axe at the newly appeared archers with all his might.
Thwack!
No Throwing skill, but the axe, used for its intended purpose, packed tremendous power. Boosted by his stats, it didn’t just embed—it shattered bones on impact.
“Krraaah!”
His War Cry followed, and the grave skeletons’ dim eyes lost focus for a moment. Despite their higher levels, the overwhelming stat gap stunned them briefly.
By then, Rokan had closed the distance considerably.
“Strike!”
This time, he swung the axe horizontally. Gripping the handle long and spinning fully, his body traced a circle, and the bones hitting the blade and haft screamed in unison. Bone fragments scattered like cherry blossoms.
“Come on! Let’s have some fun, friends!”
Rokan straightened up, grinning at the newly spawning grave skeletons, and for a moment, it felt like their bones were shivering.
But it was probably just his imagination.
* * *
“Berserk!”
Rokan’s eyes turned blood-red, his muscles bulging massively. Explosive power filled his body, then erupted toward the enemy in a roar.
“Krraaah!”
The skeleton warrior staggered, its gaze shaken.
True to its status as the dungeon boss, it recovered quickly, but Rokan was already right in its face.
“Strike!”
Crack!
He severed the already battered collarbone, making its arm dangle, then kicked its leg, spinning its body 180 degrees. Even as a boss, its light frame couldn’t withstand Rokan’s low kick.
“Let’s finish this!”
As its head swung down, the orc tribe battle axe’s cold edge met its nape.
But it was just an instant. The moment it felt it, all magic-powered neural circuits were severed.
[Level up.]
“Cancel!”
With the level-up notification, Rokan forcibly ended Berserk. The backlash dealt damage equal to 50% of his total HP in one go, but he could tank it. The level-up had already restored his HP fully.
The real pain, no matter how many times he experienced it, was the 50% stat reduction debuff lasting ten minutes.
“Phew! Safely in the clear.”
Rokan flopped his sodden-rag-like body straight onto the floor and checked his level.
Finally, level 30! And it was still daytime on the third day—he’d reached his goal with ease.
Even as a secret dungeon, it was just the Moonlit Cemetery in the beginner area—nothing special. Rokan could solo it no problem. The boss was just a slightly stronger level 30 skeleton warrior.
He could have beaten it without Berserk, but he used it purely to grind proficiency ahead of time—nothing more, nothing less.
After slaying the skeleton warrior, Rokan waited out the aftereffects, then backtracked, repeatedly smashing the respawned grave skeletons and archers. That’s how his levels shot up.
And it wasn’t just that—aside from occasional bandages for First Aid proficiency and food for hunger, he hadn’t used any consumables.
In return, the money and items from the grave skeleton series and skeleton warriors filled his inventory to the brim.
“Thanks to that, I’ve got a nice pile of cash.”
Especially the ‘skeleton warrior series’ dropped by the boss monster—highly sought-after gear for close-combat classes. Rokan had already collected over ten full sets. The drop rate wasn’t normally that high, but thanks to first-clear bonuses—or maybe he was just lucky this time—sometimes two or three pieces dropped at once.
“With this money... it’s enough for seed capital.”
Plus, his current holdings were a hefty 1 gold 80 silver. More than enough to turn a profit with some venture.
Knowing the future, hoarding for price arbitrage was child’s play for him.
“But first, I need to clear this place out quickly.”
Still, there were limits here.
For real profits, he needed to head to the next city with an auction house. Hawking items in the square wouldn’t yield proper trade gains.
“Time to head out.”
Decision made, Rokan shook off as soon as the first phase of Berserk’s aftereffects ended.
It was a shame to leave such a goldmine hunting ground, but it was fine. He planned to sell the entry method. A dungeon that gave generously to the end.
“The guilds would love it.”
Perfect level range for quick leveling before Orc Camp, and with the skeleton warrior drops, he could sell it for a premium.
Guild systems weren’t active yet, but some groups were already handing out cloaks with guild emblems for the future. They’d pay top dollar for this to train members.
But that was after handling his own business.
Rokan checked his quest window, confirmed the day with Steroian had arrived, and entered the city for the first time in three days.
* * *
“Same as ever.”
The city hadn’t changed much from three days ago.
In the interim, the Curse of the Plague had caused a massacre, and Condor had issued an emergency patch, but it hadn’t escalated into the massive incident from his past life. Steroian had stepped in to cure some NPCs.
Rokan, holed up in the dungeon, didn’t know the details, but he’d seen the patch notes and knew the curse had been neatly wrapped up.
So he strolled through town openly, restocking bandages and selling junk items.
“Here you go—all paid up.”
He stopped by the Berserker Guild to repay the bank clerk’s loan. Even after that, he had over 1 gold 50 silver left—enough to hand over with a smile.
Finally, Rokan headed to the mage guild where Steroian was.
“Lord Steroian, I’m here.”
He went straight to the second floor and opened Steroian’s door. As before, Steroian was immersed in some research.
‘Again...’
Was this real, or another fake?
As he debated summoning the Bell of Truth, Steroian greeted him first. This time, it was genuine.
“You’re here. Sorry about last time—I was in a rush.”
“No problem. So, did you uncover the culprit?”
“No, I couldn’t find anything since it wasn’t an official quest. No witnesses either...”
He’d apparently investigated everyone who took requests from the security post. But those guys weren’t idiots—they wouldn’t have handled it so straightforwardly.
Naturally, tracking traces failed, and exhaustive searches turned up nothing. Guys who hid deliberately wouldn’t leave sloppy clues.
‘So, no luck?’
But that seemed too sloppy. No CCTV like in the modern world, but this world had the master key called ‘magic.’
“So, I decided to read the land’s memory.”
‘As expected.’
As expected it was. True to form as a high mage, Steroian proposed magic—the universal key that fit any situation.
‘But there’s a catch, right?’
“But there’s one problem.”
Sure enough, he made a troubled face.
Otherwise, there’d be no reason to summon Rokan here.
“Truth be told, I called you here today out of a faint hope, but it’s come to this. Could you do me a favor?”
The activation of a new quest.