Mountains Conquered, Wyvern Spotted

With the chime of the experience notification, the ogre's corpse began to rot away. Spotting the Sea Common Horn amid the decaying flesh, he picked it up and examined it closely, muttering to himself.

"They said this goes for about 100 million, right? Damn, one ogre and I've already made 100 million... And this Raid skill is insane. It turns 550 defense into mush. At this level, even that Sphinx bastard would go down in one hit."

Suddenly, a smile spread across his face. He was picturing himself running three raids a day. If he could one-shot the Sphinx, theoretically he could pull off a maximum of three raids daily. Based on experience, one appeared every five clears or so—that meant a mana stone every other day.

"First, I need to see how much I can make here. If it's decent, no need to go farther. The experience is way better too."

Tucking the horn into his inventory, Taemin resumed hunting. As he did, he realized the Phladian Mountains were laughably small for a mountain range. If he had to compare, it was like the hilly area before the great sands in the Desert Zone.

The monsters each had their own territories, so they rarely gathered in groups—fewer than ten appeared at a time. All things considered, this place was perfect for an average party to clear in a day.

If I push it, I could reach that peak over there by tonight and wipe it all out...

He suddenly thought of the men who had blocked the portal entrance. Those infuriating bastards.

"Two days, huh? Your hunts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that day are screwed."

Still stinging from their attitude, Taemin pressed on toward the next ridge with determined eyes.

As befitted a mid-level dungeon, the monsters' average experience was incomparable to the Desert Zone. But with total experience doubling after level 30, his leveling speed stayed about the same.

Climbing forests and mountains nonstop, he decided to eat lunch at the fourth ridge. The clock read 3 p.m.

Scanning the summit, Taemin sat with his back to a massive boulder. This way, at least his rear was secure—he just had to watch ahead.

He pulled out his morning-packed lunch and water for a quick bite, then rested while waiting for his hunger to subside.

"Seven or eight hours more? I'll get home at dawn."

Lost in thought as he gazed ahead, Taemin noticed something odd. A massive shadow began creeping forward from the direction he was facing.

The shadow swallowed the sunlight on the ground, engulfing the peak in an instant. Then, with a howling wind, a gale whipped up.

What's that? Rain coming?

"Gasp!"

Glancing up absentmindedly, Taemin involuntarily sucked in a breath. A colossal bird—no, a pterosaur—dominated the sky.

It was the mountain range's ruler: the Green Wyvern.

Overwhelmed by its sheer size, Taemin shrank back instinctively. Fortunately, it hadn't spotted him and was flying in the direction he'd come from.

Oh right.

Snapping out of his daze, Taemin activated Insight to check its stats.

"A wyvern, as expected... Huh? Why the question marks?"

With the info glitching, he activated Insight again.

Why the question marks? Too far away?

Ignoring the fading wyvern, Taemin scrutinized its floating status window.

"670k experience... Judging by the question marks... Defense at least 2,000?"

Stunned by the numbers, he stared at the sky where it had vanished.

If the wyvern's defense was in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the 2,000s as he guessed, even he couldn't take it down. Not even with full skills and Raid—maybe a scratch at best. One shot every two minutes wouldn't cut it.

"They said it takes at least twenty people... Yeah, that checks out. Leagues above the Sphinx. Well, the size difference is obvious."

From what he'd read online, the Green Wyvern measured about 25 meters from head to tail. The Sphinx was 7 meters—nearly four times longer. He'd thought "four times the Sphinx," but seeing it was beyond imagination. Especially with wingspan matching its body length, it looked even huger.

"Gotta steer clear until I can handle it. It uses magic too."

Finishing his analysis, Taemin stood and resumed hunting.

He was heading the same way as the wyvern, but with the rear cleared, he had no choice to finish.

Even if it reappeared, he had Invisible—the ultimate cheat skill. He couldn't kill it, but he could hide or escape.

Filling his inventory while hunting, he dumped the lowest-value materials and wiped out every last monster on the final peak. Mission accomplished, as promised.

Now level 31, with nothing left to hunt or loot, he headed to the entrance portal. Hiding with Invisible, he slipped out.

The morning guards were gone.

"Guess they left. Why guard at all? Just come at night."

Shaking his head in confusion, Taemin descended the mountain.

Checking the time in his car: nearly midnight.

Planning to sell materials at the Hunter Market first, he decided it was too late and headed home.

Crashing onto the bed, he was out. Exhausted from the all-day hunt.

Intending just a quick lie-down before washing, sleep overtook him.

The next morning.

Ring ring! Ring ring!

Waking to his phone, Taemin rubbed his tired eyes and checked the caller.

"What's up with her?"

He answered.

"Yeah."

-Oppa? Were you sleeping?

"Nah, just woke up. What's up?"

-Just checking if you're coming home for Chuseok. Mom and Dad seem to be waiting on you.

"Oh, has it been that long already?"

-You're coming this time, right?

"Of course... Yeah, I'll come. Definitely."

-Okay, we'll expect you.

"See you then."

After hanging up with So-eun, Taemin checked the calendar.

Ten days left.

After washing up, he ate breakfast-lunch and headed to the Hunter Market to sell yesterday's haul.

Including the ogre horn, he offloaded materials worth 340 million won. Restocking potions, he went upstairs to the gear center for the necklace.

Checking prices in advance for the essential item.

"Ugh... Rare gear's almost 70 billion. A full four-piece set... Insane money."

Taemin gaped at the prices. One each of earth, wind, fire, water: minimum 100 billion. High-end ones? Hundreds of billions.

Of course, sticking to Phladian Mountains or the abandoned factory, he was fine as-is. But for upper dungeons' gear and experience, he'd need them eventually.

"This'll take forever."

Shaking his head, he headed to the weapon shop.

Wonder if anything good today.

Looking around for new stock, Taemin had visited a few times but always left empty-handed. No suitable weapons.

His rare class was the issue. Weapons weren't class-locked, but few here suited him.

Main problem: weight. Low strength meant swords or blades were heavy—some impossible to lift.

Assassin daggers fit best, but assassins were rare, so stock was scarce.

If only a dagger...

No daggers today. Lacking a weapon that boosted basic attacks was a fatal growth hurdle.

He'd used the Saitun dagger since around level 10—should've swapped twice by now.

Examining the display, he focused on thin, short blades.

One felt perfect in his grip.

"Price is decent, options solid."

Taemin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swung it one-handed. Heavier than Saitun, but manageable. Only a handspan longer than daggers—perfect for now.

Run the mountains and factory, save up, buy this first, then the necklace.