New Skill?
Taemin wanted to check his skill window right away, but he had to hold back at Choi Dong-chan's next words.
“Congratulations. You're level 20 now, right?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“You did pretty well for your first time. Must be a natural. Your damage output looks solid too—just keep it up like that. There's one more over there; let's take it down quick.”
“Got it.”
After felling the first Menos, they kept hunting without a break.
Once their potions ran dry from the cycle of moving and slaying, the party headed back to the entrance to split the loot.
Unfortunately, the boss dropped nothing.
“About the same as last time. I'll handle the odd one out and wire the cash to your account. Oh, and you free next week too?”
“Next week?”
Taemin paused, then shook his head.
“Starting next week, I've got stuff to handle. Probably won't work.”
He'd cleared everything from the Desert Zone to the boss. Knowing Hydeger worked on Menos meant no more need for party hunts.
Solo play would slow his EXP grind, sure. But he could hog all the pricey drops—trading a bit of levels for a fat stack of cash.
Choi Dong-chan's face fell at the answer. Taemin's role was essential. They clicked perfectly, and finding another hunter who could herd mobs at this level? Impossible.
“I see. Would've been great to run together again...”
“I'd love to, but personal business.”
“Fair enough. Hit me up whenever you're free. Anytime.”
They exited the dungeon and parted ways in their cars.
Can't hold back anymore—gotta see it.
Driving down the mountain, Taemin pulled over in a quiet spot and stepped out. Time to inspect his level-up rewards.
The nonstop rush had kept him from peeking until now.
He pulled up his skill window and scanned the new additions.
Let's see...
Target info scan (scales with level)
MP Cost: 10
[Smoke Screen Level 1]
Temporary blindness (all directions)
Range: 9x9
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 25 seconds
MP Cost: 50
Next Level: Range 18x18 | Duration 7s | Cooldown 20s | MP 80
Info scan? Blindness?
Taemin studied both closely, then activated them to test for real.
Heart's Eye.
A square window the size of a lighter popped up dead center in his vision—like an FPS reticle, tracking his gaze perfectly.
Wonder what it does. Target info—monsters, right? Let's assume.
He canceled it and fired up Smoke Screen.
Smoke Screen.
...?
Smoke Screen.
“What the? Nothing happened?”
He scanned around for changes. Nada.
MP dropped by 50, so it triggered. But...
Glancing about and recasting a few times yielded nothing. He summoned his map instead—needed a hunting ground to test properly.
Sun dipping low, but curiosity burned too hot to care. He'd pull an all-nighter if needed.
Spotting the nearest dungeon, he hopped in the car and drove.
Luck smiled: it was the next mountain over.
At the portal, he glanced around and stepped in.
Desert Zone—untouched, no footprints.
Downed a potion, crested the first dune, hit flat ground. Six Mozelins in view.
First, Heart's Eye...
Activating, he aimed the box at the lead Mozelin. Red reticle flipped green; a panel materialized.
“Whoa, no way? It works like this?”
Staring in awe, he swung it to a Desert Yam behind.
“This is insane. Game-changer.”
Numerical intel on foes? Huge edge in hunts. No losing fights—you dodge anything too tanky.
Life-or-death calculator, basically.
Grinning, he spammed Heart's Eye everywhere before shifting to Smoke Screen.
9x9 range—not cm, meters. Km's ridiculous, so herd and measure.
He scanned, triggered Arrainba, and bolted.
Mozelins led the charge, pack trailing.
Herded tight, he glanced back and cast.
Smoke Screen.
Black smoke billowed from the frontrunners. They froze, heads swiveling blindly. Laggards barreled past.
Range checks out.
Blindness, all directions—frontline halted.
Cooldown ticking, he evaded the rest, looped, potion down, recast.
Smoke again; pack stalled like statues.
Crystal clear now.
“This is broken too.”
[Smoke Screen Level 1]
Temporary blindness (all directions)
Range: 9x9
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 25 seconds
MP Cost: 50
Next Level: Range 18x18 | Duration 7s | Cooldown 20s | MP 80
Pulling the window again, Taemin dumped 4 points in.
All-direction vision block
Range: 45x45
Duration: 13 seconds
Cooldown: 5 seconds
MP Cost: 170
Massive range—small field size. Long duration, short cooldown. Mana infinite-loop potential.
“Might as well clear these while I'm here.”
Monsters regrouping; he checked potions.
“Two's plenty.”
Potion down, Arrainba, charge.
No Hydeger needed. Pre-scan, looks fooled him into overkill. Now? Defense stats clear—no waste.
Slash!
Mozelins bisected sans skill, as expected.
Blasted through; Desert Yams next. Even at Hydeger LV1, they tanked hits—but ki surged now. One-shots easy.
Last Yam; power flooded him. Blade glowed red.
His sword cracked its shell. Boom—chunks flew.
Taemin smirked.
“So that's critical. Nice.”
First crit tasted sweet. Wings pocketed, out he went.
Heading home, he remembered his water was gone—parked at the convenience store.
Door chimed; clerk glanced, back to her phone. Puzzle game blaring.
World's changed. Phones on shift? Unthinkable back then.
Shaking his head, he grabbed 21 water, scanned sandwiches and strawberry milk, headed to checkout.
Door burst—giggling girls swarmed, hogging the counter with the clerk.
Chaos; they ignored him behind them.
Kids these days...
Irked, he squeezed forward—then a wild idea hit.
Does it work on people...?
Smoke Screen.
Black smoke from clerk and girls. Screams erupted.
“Eek!”
“What? What?!”
“Can't see! What's happening?!”
One crashed down, another clung to shelves, third snagged his pant leg—pandemonium.
It works?!
Shook her off, slapped a 10,000 won bill down, bolted.
“Ha... didn't expect that. Whoa.”
Outside: zombies staggering, screaming—smoke everywhere. Overrange caught passersby.
They recovered fast, smoke gone, fled in panic.
Taemin chuckled awkwardly.
“Heh... gotta use this carefully.”
Then—
Actually... kinda perfect?
His grin widened.