Attributes in Plain Sight

As expected.

Ever since acquiring Insight, he'd been able to see the attributes of these damn monsters. But up until now, he hadn't felt the need to pay much attention to attributes beyond defense and movement speed.

'What an idiot. It's all right there in front of me.'

He shook off the absurdity in moments and turned to the woman beside him.

"Hey."

A healer who had been frantically applying buffs glanced over at his voice.

Taemin pointed forward with his finger. "Those two over there are fire and water attributes."

"Pardon?"

"The two playing around up front. Left one's fire, right one's water."

"How do you know that?"

"Just tell them and see."

The woman couldn't readily believe Taemin. The dealers clashing directly with the monsters couldn't even figure it out easily—there was no way this guy just watching from behind could.

She was about to brush him off subtly when a hunter who had just finished a fight started unloading attacks on the one Taemin had pointed out.

And moments later, a clear voice rang from that hunter's mouth.

"Fire! (Flame)"

She glanced at Taemin's face in that instant.

'Just luck.'

With a 25% chance anyway, it wasn't impossible to guess right if fortune favored you.

But when the left monster fell and the hunters hunting the right one all equipped earth-attribute gear in unison, that's when something felt off.

"Can you tell for those over there too?"

"No big deal. Let's see... Starting from this side: water, wind, earth, water."

Watching Taemin rattle it off without hesitation, the woman looked at the golems.

And moments later, the attacking hunters swapped gear precisely as called.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"How is that possible? How did you know?"

He hadn't even clashed with them—just stood there watching—and every attribute he named hit the mark. Was this even possible? It felt like real magic.

Taemin kindly explained to her.

"I have a skill called Insight. It lets me see monster stats, including attributes."

"Th-there's a skill like that?"

Her eyes grew even wider.

If it was possible to see attributes as Taemin said, then in hunting, the most essential role would belong to none other than an Il-sala-ja.

Even ignoring all other abilities, just instantly grasping attributes could more than double overall hunting speed.

On top of that, fatigue from hunting would drop dramatically. Compared to not knowing attributes, it was practically like playing around while eating.

While she was stunned, the battle neared its end.

Once all the monsters fell, Taemin revealed to them that he could see attributes.

He could've hidden it and kept it for himself, but showing it off here would spread the word—and after that, hunters would line up begging him to join their hunts, even for dungeons he couldn't access alone.

That was how revolutionary this skill was.

The hunters, led by Yoo Hyuk, initially looked skeptical of his claim. Even the healer's testimony seemed dismissed as coincidence.

But when Taemin's calls kept hitting perfectly in the next room, they had no choice but to accept the truth.

"That one's earth, the two up front are water. And the one in the back there is wind. The one next to it... fire."

The hunters swapped pendants in unison to match Taemin's calls.

No need to test each one by hitting them—hunting speed skyrocketed beyond comparison.

'Average 200k EXP each. This place is honey.'

Plateau monsters averaged 10k per kill, so this was like one-shotting 20 at once—an insane amount.

After some time, Taemin started calling attributes while jumping into the fray himself.

Standing idle was just too boring.

'They have earth pendants, so water-attribute ones should be doable.'

Taemin picked the weakest-looking monster matching the attribute and charged with sword drawn.

Clang!

The sword bounced off like striking steel upon contact. So tough his gripping hand went numb.

He'd confidently rushed in thanks to soloing an ice golem before, but these bodies were far sturdier than expected.

Despite similar defense, the difference came from higher resistance to attributes in this upper dungeon, the ruins.

Even same-attribute monsters dealt only about 70% damage compared to plateau ones.

Dozens of strikes later, not a single scratch on the stone golem.

'No buffs? It's not even denting.'

As if reading his mind, a nearby healer buffed him.

With over 20% attack boost from buffs, minor wounds began appearing on the steel-hard body.

Still negligible, but enough to reignite his enthusiasm.

As Taemin darted around inflicting scratches, the other hunters nearly finished their fights.

Seeing that hurried him—he'd stepped up confidently and wanted at least one kill by his hand.

'Ambush the only way?'

Normal hits would take all day, so Taemin decided to use his secret weapon: Ambush.

Deploying Defensive Critical and Invisible together, he charged straight at it.

Leapt and slammed his sword into its body.

Boom!

Explosion hurled the massive stone golem backward.

A clean hit. Debris flew as it soared meters away—Taemin was sure it was dead.

But when dust cleared, the sight shocked him.

It was still alive.

"What? It's moving."

The hit spot was deeply cratered, a huge hole gaping, but it approached Taemin slowly without issue.

Seeing the golem stirred his competitive spirit.

'Let's see if it survives twice.'

Waiting for cooldown, preparing another strike—but the finished hunters swarmed it first.

Watching it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shatter after a few normal hits, Taemin realized anew the gap between their power and his.

Yoo Hyuk approached Taemin, staring at the futilely slain golem.

"That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠explosion just now—a skill?"

"Yeah. Thought it'd one-shot... these guys are tougher than expected. Ice golem went down in one."

"Probably resistance. Still, that damage in one hit is amazing. Near Sonic Buster level destruction."

"Sonic Buster?"

"Warrior skill unlocks at level 60—an explosive one like what you just showed. Probably deals that with 3 skill points."

"I see."

Taemin took some comfort in Yoo Hyuk's words.

Ambush was a level 30 skill anyway.

Hunting continued after.

Skipping meal breaks except midway, they hunted till 6 PM, then returned to base as time grew late.

"Thanks today. Leveled up twice thanks to you."

Yoo Hyuk shook his head at Taemin's thanks.

"No, we should thank you. Doubled our hunting time—no, half what we did today at best without your attributes."

"Really."

They parted warmly after reporting return at management, heading to quarters.

Back in his room, Taemin first checked his status.

'Two more kills and I'd have leveled.'

Taemin smacked his lips at the remaining EXP.

After sorting status, he showered off the dust-caked grime.

Drying his hair as he emerged, he thought.

'Being the only one who can see attributes is a total jackpot, no matter how I slice it.'

The more he pondered, the more amazing Insight's power seemed.

The gap between calling attributes ahead and discovering by clashing was huge.

Cut pointless labor, shorten ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunt times—any party would welcome him with open arms.

'Upper dungeons might call too if I play it right.'

Lost in pleasant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thoughts, the doorbell rang.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

"Huh? No one's coming... Ji-hoon?"

Taemin threw on clothes from the rack and headed to the door.

"Who is it?"

A familiar voice came through the intercom.

-Taemin, it's Yoon Ji-young.