Dullahan Annihilation
Mu-hyuk approached the Dullahan and performed Corpse Dissection.
◈ Trait: Vitality
He stowed the bone in his inventory, then found a spot where no monsters would appear and sat down to rest.
"Haa."
It had been tougher than expected.
About seven minutes?
That was the time spent hunting.
Including rest time, he could take down roughly four per hour.
Assuming he cut back on sleep a bit and hunted for eighteen hours, that made seventy-two. Over three straight days, around 216.
His goal: 199 more.
Whew, gonna be tight.
Still, the experience was solid.
More than satisfying.
He'd used an HP potion, but that was because it was his first time fighting a Dullahan—he'd fumbled a little. This time, he figured he could do it without one.
Yeah, let's test it.
He pulled out a set of disposable crafting tools from his inventory.
Kaang, kang!
In under three minutes, he'd forged a greatsword.
Not bad.
Satisfied, he listed it on the auction house.
He made another sword.
Failure this time.
Still, with his MP and HP not fully recovered, he crafted another shield instead. Only then did Mu-hyuk finish resting and stand.
"Skeleton Warrior Summon."
"Skeleton Archer Summon."
"Skeleton Mage Summon."
He summoned his skeletons.
Mu-hyuk approached Enhanced Bone 8 and pulled out one of its bones.
'Enhanced Bone 8's' Vitality (0.15) decreases.
He slotted the Dullahan's bone in its place.
'Enhanced Bone 8's' Vitality (0.35) increases.
Afterward, he set out to find another Dullahan.
There—one in the distance.
Strange excitement laced with tension washed over him as he stepped forward.
*
Mu-hyuk sheathed his sword at his waist.
He checked the time, ignoring the crisp sound.
Tonight?
Tomorrow's the full moon.
Dullahan Subjugation (197/200)
Just three more, and the quest was done.
Time to wrap it up.
"Summon."
He called all his skeletons and began the fight.
At first, the battles had been razor-thin, his own life hanging by a thread. But now, he'd grown in every way.
Swapping bones had strengthened his Enhanced Bones, and his own level-up had nudged up the damage output.
Above all, he'd mastered fighting strong foes.
Not just brute-forcing with numbers, not just pulling back and pushing forward. Now, they formed pairs: one on defense, one on attack.
He'd avoided commanding them before because it was too tricky, but hunting Dullahans had forced him to try again. The skeletons handled complex orders better than expected—no issues.
Wisdom really pays off.
Then the thing started its ridiculous jig. Veins bulged on Mu-hyuk's forehead at the sight.
Dullahans had a real talent for pissing people off.
Every damn time.
He'd seen that dance hundreds of times now.
Hoo.
He shook his head, nocked an arrow, and focused on its face.
Kiaaa……!
The moment its mouth opened, he loosed the string.
Good.
Critical hit.
Enhanced Bone Pair 1: defend.
Enhanced Bone Pair 2: attack.
The defender blocked the Dullahan's strike, while the attacker thrust its sword from behind, drawing blood.
Ten seconds passed.
Powerful Arrow Shot cooldown up. Mu-hyuk glanced at his mage.
Two days ago, his Skeleton Mages' skill level had risen, upping the count to seven.
Two fire-attribute, two ice, two wind, one lightning.
Enhanced Bones, retreat.
Mages, magic attack.
The barrage engulfed the Dullahan. It burst through the explosions, chasing the retreating Enhanced Bones, but Mu-hyuk's arrow stopped it cold.
Patterns are crystal clear now.
Familiarity made the hunts straightforward.
Kiaaaak!
But damage wasn't zero.
'Bone Sword 3' is forcibly unsummoned.
'Bone Sword 4' is forcibly unsum...
Most summons still got forcibly unsummoned.
But the burden was way lighter than at the start, speeding up his hunts.
Experience increases.
Dullahan Subjugation (198/200)
Just two left.
A quick break.
After resting, he headed out again.
About fifteen minutes later.
Dullahan Subjugation (200/200)
He'd cleared the quest.
Both Skeleton Warrior Summon and Skeleton Archer Summon leveled up simultaneously.
Now at 10.
Warriors: 20. Archers: 10. Mages: 7.
Total: 37.
A satisfied smile crossed his face.
The Dullahan's rage at being massacred by an outsider for the first time transfers to 'Burtan'.
His eyes widened at the sudden messages.
Shit, a boss?
A level 105 boss monster. A Dullahan variant, no less—tricky as hell. Temptation flickered, but he shook his head.
Solo? No way.
With users? Still no.
Then it hit him.
Ah, Namur Valley...!
A faint smile tugged at his lips as he summoned his warhorse. Mounting up, he sped away from the hunting ground.
Late to the party, Boss Monster Burtan appeared where Mu-hyuk had stood.
Ku, krur?
Burtan looked around, its face wobbling atop its palm-hand.
A short while later.
In front of the Weibra Empire Mercenary Guild, he lined up and reviewed his progress.
Skeleton Mastery: level 6.
Blessing of the Dead: level 6.
Meditation: level 7.
Powerful Arrow Shot: level 7.
Crafting: level 9.
Cooking: level 8.
Repair: level 7.
Attack skills maxed at mastery level 10. Crafting, cooking, repair, meditation, etc., at 20. Summons at 100.
Some basic or non-combat skills unlocked advanced versions upon mastery.
Powerful Arrow Shot was one. Hitting mastery granted a useful new skill—he remembered that much.
Skill grinding was unavoidable if you wanted to enjoy Illusion.
"Next."
Mu-hyuk's turn.
He handed over his mercenary tag.
Commission 'Dullahan Subjugation' completed.
A large amount of experience acquired.
Decent points, but A-rank promotion needed 20,000.
Still a ways off.
"View commissions?"
"No, thanks."
Sun had already set.
Eat and log back in.
He left the mercenary guild and logged out.
Chiiiik.
Out of the capsule, he hit the homepage.
Paid info board.
Ho.
His monster strategy posts had racked up views.
Fifty posts total, averaging 100 views each per day.
5,000 total—50,000 won. His cut: 20,000. Monthly? 600,000 won easy.
At 100, 200 posts?
Jackpot.
No worries about copycats.
Illusion's devs enforced copyrights strictly—dupe strategies got deleted fast.
These 50 were all his.
Post another today?
One continent was vast; empires, kingdoms, villages spawned diverse monsters.
Plenty left to cover, even same-level ones with different traits.
Mu-hyuk didn't know every strategy, but he had about 80 under level 100.
Tadak, tak.
He typed swiftly.
He posted it, then headed to the fridge.
Opened the door.
"……."
Shut it immediately.
Hmm.
Nothing to eat—as expected. So why open it anyway?
One of life's great mysteries. He threw on a jacket and ordered jjajangmyeon from the local Chinese place.
Paid and headed home. Logged back into Illusion—8:40 PM.
Told to be there by 9. Plenty of time to wait.
Three Great Guilds' central square.
More users than expected.
"You here for the full moon night quest too?"
"Yeah."
"You as well?"
"Yep."
A male user approached Mu-hyuk.
"Full moon night quest?"
"……."
Mu-hyuk stared blankly.
"Nah?"
Technically, he'd gotten three full moon quests that merged into the hidden "Cursed Monsters" one—but no need to spill that.
"Yeah."
"Oh, cool. More people than I thought, huh?"
"Sure is."
About twenty.
"Wonder what the quest's like. The exam was brutal. Everyone here must be rankers..."
The guy eyed Mu-hyuk.
"You a ranker?"
"Dunno."
"Haha, keeping it secret."
Hyper dude. Mu-hyuk brushed past without another word.
The guy shrugged at the non-response and hit up another user.
Twenty minutes later, 9 PM sharp. The three guild masters appeared with a few NPCs.
"Gather round."
The exam passers approached.
Onlookers murmured.
"That's the guild master, right?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa, a quest?"
"Jealous. What level are they...?"
Archer Guild Master Simon glanced at Mage Guild Master Arena.
"Barrier, please."
"Got it."
Arena gestured; a blue dome formed.
Curious non-passers who'd crowded in got bounced out.
Users inside and out sneered at them.
"Uh, th-that..."
The scammers fled.
"Alright, cleaned up. Introductions: I'm Archer Guild Master Simon."
"Warrior Guild Master Pakkan."
"Mage Guild Master Arena."
Simon stepped forward.
"Full moon's tomorrow, but the road's long, so we meet today. We'll head to Namur Valley's entrance, rest, then climb to the top at dawn. Prep your minds."
All nodded.
"Good. Let's move."
The three guild masters and their NPCs led. Nearly twenty users followed.
Warp gate to Carben Kingdom first, then out into the fields.
Mu-hyuk approached Simon.
"Guild Master Simon."
"Hm? Oh, you."
"Yeah. But... to Namur Valley, don't we pass through Kaiser Plains?"
"We do. Why?"
Mu-hyuk began explaining something to the puzzled Simon.