Limited Revival
The moment his hand touched it.
1%, 2%...
The percentage rose slowly.
Three chances.
He just needed to succeed within them.
77%, 78%, 79%...
Did that desperate wish reach somewhere?
98%, 99%, 100%
You have acquired the skill Limited Revival.
He succeeded on the first try.
A cheer escaped him.
"Whoa!"
He hurriedly checked the skill details.
Limited Revival
1. Forcefully revive the souls of nearby monsters. They can be controlled unilaterally, wielding 80% of their original abilities. Lasts 30 minutes, after which they dissipate.
2. Inject the souls of nearby monsters into summons. Injection adds 50% of the monster's abilities to the skeleton.
MP Cost: 100 per unit
Mu-hyuk's eyes gleamed.
80 percent...!
And he could even inject monster souls into his summons to boost their stats.
"Jackpot."
He loved it. It was on par with the Healing Spirit—no clear winner between them. Savoring his satisfaction for a good while, Mu-hyuk glanced at the incoming message.
A chat had come in.
He summoned his warhorse and mounted it, picking up speed.
A village appeared in the distance.
As he entered, three people emerged from a restaurant.
"Over here!"
"Oh, perfect timing."
"You guys done eating?"
"Stuffed to death."
"Then we should head out."
"Where to?"
"West, to the frozen zone."
"Already...?"
They all looked exhausted.
"Oppa..."
"Yeah?"
"Can we rest a bit?"
"Did we push too hard?"
"Yeah, we logged out an hour ago...!"
The forced march must have worn them out.
"Alright, how about two days off?"
"No!"
"Then?"
"Three days!"
"Fine, whatever..."
"Sweet!"
"It's been ages since we met up—wanna hang out?"
"Sounds good!"
"What about unnie?"
"M-me too, I'm fine."
"Tomorrow then. Nah, tomorrow everyone rests solo. Day after, we plan it?"
"Seoul Station, cool?"
"Perfect. By 10 a.m.?"
Yerin and Sung Min-woo had planned it all in seconds. Mu-hyuk just smiled, watching them.
The next day.
Trying to rest without doing anything felt oddly off after so long.
Nothing to do?
He flipped through TV programs from the sofa but nothing caught his interest. Finally, he sank deeper and grabbed his phone.
Check the homepage.
He logged into the Illusion site, browsing around.
"Hmm."
No major issues, as expected.
Just news of special or unique dungeons discovered.
Boss monster sighting too.
Level 190 boss.
That piqued his interest a bit.
Hmm.
He tucked it in the back of his mind and clicked 'My Info' in the top right.
This month's paid board sales.
His various paid posts were still selling steadily. Day 16—over 2.12 million won so far this month.
Not bad.
By month's end, at least 3.5 million.
A bit short...
While at it, he posted a new monster strategy on the paid board.
First, freeze its horns with ice magic, then...
After some thought, he added one more.
"There, done."
This should push sales over 4 million. He exited the paid board.
Back to free board—still nothing intriguing.
Ah, screw it, back to the game.
Mu-hyuk logged back into Illusion without resting.
Welcome to the new world.
Sung Min-woo, Yerin, and Kim Ji-yeon weren't online.
Solo time after ages felt awkward but freeing. He could do anything.
"Hmm."
After a moment's thought, he summoned his warhorse.
Guess I'll head there.
Recalling the free board info, he sped up.
About two hours later.
He arrived.
Too late?
Time dragged hunting for Healing Spirit growth, swapping archer gear to mounted archers.
Fewer users than expected. Maybe the boss was already down. Regretfully, he pushed faster.
"Oh?"
Thankfully, a fierce battle raged: a monster over 3 meters against what looked like a thousand users.
"Ugh, insane. How many hours now?"
"Four."
"Crazy, when does it end? Filming's killing me."
"Dude, gotta capture the end. Slick edit means good money."
"I know, I know."
"Let's get closer."
"What if we die?"
"Hundreds of top rankers already bit it. Boss is about to drop! Close-up finish makes it clean."
"You're nuts."
Non-combatants were mostly spectators.
Few purely watched; most filmed or streamed openly.
Mu-hyuk on his warhorse entered their view, strolling casually.
"Hey, that guy..."
"What?"
"That user. Kinda familiar?"
"Familiar?"
Some eyes widened.
"Uh, yeah...!"
"It's Mu-hyuk!"
Illusion rank 2, Mu-hyuk.
His look, vibe, face matched videos—no helmet made it easy.
"Whoa, Mu-hyuk-nim!"
"Joining the boss raid?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome. Can I film?"
"Go ahead."
Too many crowding.
Damn.
Mu-hyuk pulled his helmet from inventory and donned it.
Let's go.
He spurred the warhorse faster.
"Mu-hyuuuk-nim!"
"Wait up!"
Ignoring shouts, he locked eyes on the beast radiating menace.
Armored crocodile form.
Level 190 boss: King Crocodile.
*
About an hour earlier, Black Guild Master Hyeok-su arrived and started tackling King Crocodile—but fiercer resistance caused heavy losses.
"Exact count?"
"216 guildies level 180+ dead."
"Insane."
"What now?"
"Hmm, tricky..."
"Too few top rankers; it's brutal."
"Yeah. Guilds scarce too."
"Users trickle in. If we massed, we'd drop it fast. But it charges when we clump, wipes us. Repeat."
"And vibe's off lately. Real pros vanished."
"True."
"Sigh, quit?"
Level 190 boss shredding them sucked—not even 200.
Continuing seemed futile; just wasting time and lives.
"Sigh, yeah. Just..."
As he opened his mouth to quit—
Paang!
A wind pierced the air from somewhere.
"Hm?"
He turned.
Tadak, tadak.
A user approached on warhorse.
"Ah...!"
Black Guild Master recognized instantly.
"Mu-hyuk-nim...?"
No time for greetings.
Kwang, kwagwagwang!
Overwhelmed by his power.
*
As distance closed, dust erupted around Mu-hyuk. Over 200 skeletons summoned at once.
Cavalry charging, followed by mounted archers and Armor Knights.
Cavalry, full charge.
They poured like bullets.
Peuk, peubeobeuk!
King Crocodile's feet sank.
Kung, kuwoong!
Deeper with each impact.
Then mounted archers split left-right, bone arrows nocked.
Steady even at gallop. Locked on boss only.
Mu-hyuk's command dropped.
Pang, pababang!
Tore air flying.
Bone arrows slammed armored back—most bounced powerless.
Hostile monster's physical abilities decrease.
Allies' strength increases.
Allies' stamina increases.
Debuff and buffs cast.
Storm, Devouring Arrow Rain.
One arrow nocked.
Pang!
Shot sky-high, split into dozens, rained like storm.
Peuk, peupeuk.
Some pierced face and back.
King Crocodile's physical and magic defense decrease.
-1,076 damage ×6
Additional -1,860 damage ×6
Debuff plus damage.
Wind Step. Storm, Numbing Sensation.
Relentless attacks.
Hueup...!
Closed in, swung sword downward with infused power.
King Crocodile's reaction speed slightly decreases.
Perfect setup.
Weakness, then phys/mag def down, reaction down.
This too...!
Slow poison and bleeding tears after ages.
Backed off, unleashed Heaven-Piercing Archery forms 1, 2, 3. Left three living swords last.
"Whew."
Sufficient distance.
Now, rack up contribution.
Perfect while users gawked. While stunned, maximize damage to top contrib ranks.
Disperse.
All fulfilling roles.
Yes, move like that!
Mounted archers shone brightest.
Kuwaaaah!
Aggro from endless bone arrows—switched to them, charged terrifyingly fast. But couldn't catch.
Regular Armor Archer would've been crushed.
But mounted had mobility to maintain distance.
Endless arrows as it closed—damage ticked up.
Ongoing attacks. Rear Armor Cavalry spears. Magic filling sky on cooldown.
Kwang, kwagwagwang!
Felt chest burst open after so long.