The Eternally Burning Underworld

The four of them arrived at the very bottom of the pit by descending the oval staircase.

"It's really down there."

"Let's go."

They headed toward the door that the Skull Snake had discovered.

"Do we have to push it?"

There was no visible handle, so he reached out and touched the door. A burst of light enveloped the four of them.

"Ugh…!"

"Ah, what the hell. Is this a dungeon or something?"

As he furrowed his brow and opened his eyes, messages appeared.

It was similar to the message from entering the Albetar Temple.

The quest was strikingly similar to the one in Albetar Temple as well.

"Oppa, this is super similar, right?"

"Yeah."

"Let's check the status first."

"Okay."

They all checked the processing status.

Monsters divided into mud, sand, and stone.

"Mud comes first, right?"

"Probably."

"Then sand, then stone."

"Yeah, oppa."

"What?"

"This seems trickier, doesn't it?"

In Albetar Temple, there had only been two types: holy knights and priests. Here, there were three per category. And all of them were attack-focused classes.

"Not sure if it's trickier."

"Then?"

"But our chances of dying just went up."

"Ah…!"

"They're all pure offense, so let's be extra careful."

"Yeah!"

"Okay!"

He said that, but he was confident.

Stats boosted by achievement points. Skeletons even stronger because of it.

Time to sweep them away.

They had the firepower for it.

A moment later.

They encountered a group of mud monsters. Warriors, archers, and mages, their entire bodies ablaze with heat.

Krr, krrruu…!

Their staggering approach was straight out of a horror flick.

"Skeleton Summon. Dark Healing Spirit Summon."

"Spirit Summon."

"S-Squirrel Summon!"

He quickly positioned the summoned minions.

Good, hold there.

Then he applied buffs and debuffs.

He ordered the mages and mounted archers to attack.

--------!

Magic bolts and bone arrows flew into the enemies. Mud warriors raised shields here and there, but their lines weren't straight, allowing heavy damage to the mud archers and mages.

"Seems better than I thought?"

Then the enhanced Armor Cavalry charged.

-Charge.

-Accelerated Thrust.

Some monsters were skewered on spears and lances, wriggling helplessly.

"Nice! Me too!"

Sung Min-woo and the spirits followed up.

Flashy combo attacks.

Skills exploding like fireworks.

A perfect harmony.

Several mud warriors melted away in the explosive power.

"Feels amazing!"

Mu-hyuk smiled watching Sung Min-woo rampage with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠excitement. He slowly closed in on the monsters as well.

Parcheon's Bow Art, First Form: Pinpoint Shot.

Seven arrows shot out.

Bang, bababang!

One, two, three.

Piercing the first monster's chest—and not stopping there, embedding into the one behind it.

Four, five, six.

---------!

And the seventh pierced the second one clean through.

Immediately, Second Form: Silent Shot.

Third Form: Parcheon Burst, exploding a narrow area.

Kwaaaang!

He closed in and swung his sword.

Without stopping.

Relentlessly.

It was a perfect start.

*

After advancing about five days faster than expected.

By hunting a total of 3,715, they finally cleared the mud section.

"Whew, sand next?"

The mud monsters had been truly easy.

Sand shouldn't be much harder.

Stone will be the problem.

Mu-hyuk's guess ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was spot on. The sand monsters fell just as easily, letting them level up quickly as they pushed forward.

"Spirits! Follow me!"

Sung Min-woo was lost in the thrill of the clean fights.

"They shatter so perfectly!"

Maybe because they were sand.

Every punch delivered a satisfying crunch, deeply cratering the spot. He loved the feel and went berserk with attacks.

"Whoa, awesome!"

Mu-hyuk shook his head and swung his sword.

He approached the fallen one.

Corpse Dissection.

No bones from sand, of course. But a weird junk item called "Sand Essence" dropped. He collected it just in case.

He could always toss it later if it proved useless.

"All done!"

"Already?"

"Hoo, I moved a bit."

He joined Yerin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Kim Ji-yeon with the hard-working Sung Min-woo.

"Good work."

"No biggie."

"Let's rest a bit then go."

"Okay!"

"Yeah, oppa!"

"Sure."

They settled in for a break.

Mu-hyuk pondered for a moment.

Maybe try super enhancement for once.

Today felt exceptionally good. Woke up refreshed, breakfast was extra cheerful.

Even in-game, strategies and minor commands executed flawlessly.

Everything flowing smoothly. Enhancement nagging at his mind.

Yeah, let's do it.

He pulled out his hammer.

"Enhancing?"

"Yeah."

He set down his Sunset Longsword as he replied.

Sung Min-woo's eyes widened.

"Whoa? That one?"

"O-Oppa…?"

They knew it was +7, so the shock was natural.

"Fail and it drops to +6?"

"Yep."

"That's risky. Materials aren't unlimited anymore. And they're hard to get, right?"

"It's fine. Gotta invest in my main weapon sometime."

He wasn't that stingy.

Even with auctions, materials were tough.

But time investment could replenish them.

Or pay premium.

Restoring to +7 was doable.

Strike while the iron's hot.

He steadied himself, eyes on the weapon.

Enhance.

A red dot appeared as the skill activated.

"Focus."

"Y-Yeah."

"You got this!"

He nodded and stared at the dot.

It slowly grew—proof of rising focus.

Swoosh.

Carefully raising the hammer.

"Hup!"

Struck down with force.

Clang!

Hit dead center.

Low rise, maybe because it was +8 challenge.

Clang!

4% on the next perfect hit.

7% after another.

Clang!

Miss this time.

Furrowed brow, paused the hammer.

Focus. Focus.

Eyed the red dot again.

Now…!

All sounds faded.

Clang!

There, Mu-hyuk swung the hammer relentlessly at the writhing red dot, like a living thing.

Peripheral vision darkened. Only the dot remained. Progress filling fast.

Consecutive successes.

Finally.

His good feeling panned out.

Whoosh.

Blessed light bloomed briefly, gathering into the weapon.

"Whoa, whoa? It worked?"

"Wow, insane!"

Mu-hyuk smiled and lifted the sword.

A full +8 weapon.

Physical attack nearing 700.

"This'll make it even easier, right?"

"Obviously."

"Rested up, let's go?"

They advanced with boosted confidence.

Ongoing assaults.

--------!

The difference was palpable.

A moment reaffirming why people obsessed over enhancements.

*

Mu-hyuk opened his eyes and checked the Illusion homepage first.

Damn…!

The boards were flooded with posts about someone finding a hidden power.

This would send hordes of players on the hunt for powers.

Gotta hurry.

He logged in urgently and hunted distant stone monsters.

Risky since they poured everything into offense, but upsides too.

No priests.

Meant faster clears.

Kwaaaang!

After wiping them, he pressed on.

"Over there…!"

They finally reached the vast hall—the presumed final area.