Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Perpetual Engine
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[You have acquired the reward for number 66.]
[You have acquired the Stimulus of Darkness.]
"In Isgard, my luck was utter shit, but here it has to be better."
He had experienced countless instances of abysmal probabilities in that other world.
Like needing to kill dozens of monsters to get an item that had a 90% drop rate from just one.
Or getting struck by multiple bolts of lightning while walking down the street on a rainy day.
Even Kim Minjun, who didn't usually care much about luck, had once felt uneasy enough to seek out a shaman.
"Getting this hard-earned reward here really hits different."
As he grinned in satisfaction, a brilliant light flashed.
He swiftly snatched the item dropping from midair.
It looked like a black light bulb.
The Stimulus of Darkness.
[Stimulus of Darkness]
Contains an unidentified energy.
Using it recklessly is extremely dangerous.
"What kind of description is this?"
An unhelpful system explanation.
It couldn't even tell him the item type or what it did.
"Doesn't look edible at first glance. Or does it? Maybe it is?"
Considering he'd recently eaten a rune stone... this black bulb might have potential too.
Sss...
While Kim Minjun examined the item from every angle,
black energy began leaking out from inside the Stimulus of Darkness.
And in the blink of an eye, it entered his body.
"Whoa. That was fast."
He could have dodged it, but he chose not to.
At this point, with no idea what effect the item would have,
nothing was more reliable than testing it on himself.
"Guess I'll wait and see."
Once inside his body, the black energy went berserk like a wild horse off its reins.
It rampaged through his insides as if intent on killing him.
"Man... Any other hunter would be in deep shit. No, they'd definitely die."
Even with his tough body, this wasn't something he could withstand.
Without the magi inside him, even he would have suffered immense pain.
"Is this a trap item? What kind of item is this?"
The Hunter Headquarters had cataloged hundreds of item types.
Not a single one harmed the user.
Ding.
[The Stimulus of Darkness has submitted to the user.]
[The Stimulus of Darkness has been absorbed.]
[A beneficial effect will occur.]
[Please select the desired effect.]
"Should I call this good luck or bad?"
It took about ten minutes for the rampaging energy in his body to settle.
Short time, in a way.
However.
Considering his magi stat and the concentration of magi in his body, that black energy had been incredibly resilient.
His current physical state was utterly immune to poisons.
Even if bitten by the most venomous monster, his magi would neutralize it within seconds.
"For me, this turned out to be a great item."
Seeing the options pop up wiped away any lingering unease.
And how could it not?
[Desired Stat +15]
[Add New Skill]
[Create New Stat]
The rewards in these options were all massive.
"Pass on the stat for now."
Stats could be raised anytime with enough time.
"The second or third option seems better...."
Add New Skill.
Create New Stat.
Any other hunter seeing these would lose their minds.
Hunters didn't even have skills, after all.
And not just that.
Pure talent.
Genetic gifts.
Even a stat that you had to be born with.
"This item was way bigger than I thought."
No pain, no gain—the reward was substantial.
"I can probably check what they offer."
He reached out toward the hologram, and more details appeared.
[Skill Acquisition List]
[Stat Acquisition List]
"Hmm... Skills, huh. Not as impressive as I hoped."
Combat March
Combat Sleep
Precise Shooting
Eagle's Eye
Toughness
"Combat Sleep? What the hell?"
They all looked pretty underwhelming at a glance.
Of course, only from his perspective.
Any other hunter acquiring even one would become significantly stronger.
"The stats list should have something decent, at least."
He checked the stat options next.
"Mana, Magical Power, Luck, Charm, Vitality, Evasion, Health, Vision...."
He hadn't realized there were so many stat types.
"The stats actually look pretty useful."
But there was a catch.
Blindly picking the shiniest one wasn't the way.
He had to consider how to grow it too.
"Killing monsters doesn't level up every stat."
If only it worked like a game, with uniform experience gains.
"Mana. No. Magical Power. No. Luck? What, higher luck means items drop on the street?"
Mana and Magical Power were out.
Given the magi in his body, handling them would be impossible.
The repulsion could even strain his body.
"Isn't there a stat that pairs perfectly with magi?"
As a black mage, he had the extra stat: magi.
Something with synergy would be ideal.
"Oh... This one?"
Scrolling carefully, one stat caught his eye.
"Perpetual Engine."
Perpetual Engine.
A mechanism that runs forever without external energy.
Like infinite power.
"If my hunch is right... this is it."
No separate explanation for the stat.
But his instincts screamed to choose it.
Ding.
[A new stat has been added to the status window.]
[Perpetual Engine has been added.]
He selected Perpetual Engine without hesitation.
The hologram burst apart, revealing his status window.
Strength: 84 Agility: 70 Vitality: 76 Magi: 45 Perpetual Engine: 10
"...Is this for real?"
As the new stat appeared, information flowed naturally into his mind.
Details on the Perpetual Engine stat.
"This... For me—no, for black mages, it's a dream stat."
Even Kim Minjun, hard to surprise, stood frozen for a while.
He looked genuinely shocked.
"To think it'd shatter the old framework."
He stared silently at the status window for over ten minutes.
Finally, a surge of emotion welled up, and he spoke.
"Right. At the peak of black magic, this is the least you can expect."
As mentioned before, black mages' fatal flaw was magi.
Their skills were powerful, but replenishing magi was tricky.
It didn't recover naturally like mana.
But now, with the new Perpetual Engine stat,
Kim Minjun no longer needed to hunt magi-infused monsters.
"By feeding in magi... I can generate new magi."
That was the ability of his new Perpetual Engine.
He sat in position and circulated his magi.
Sss...
Controlling the Perpetual Engine wasn't hard.
Just imagine a device inside him and pour in magi.
"Hoo...."
The magi in his body vanished.
The 40% he had drained away all at once.
"It eats a lot, huh."
Starting it up took more magi than expected, but it didn't matter.
He now had a mage-like mana regeneration ability.
[The Perpetual Engine reacts to the magi!]
[The Perpetual Engine has fully adapted to the magi!]
[The Perpetual Engine begins operating!]
[The Perpetual Engine stat has increased by 1!]
"I get how the stat growth works too."
With the low stat level now, generating magi would take time.
But that was only a matter of time.
Eliminating black mages' greatest weakness was monumental.
"Just clearing a staircase dungeon once... and it gives me this gift."
Kim Minjun lay spread-eagled in the training room.
He'd never felt this satisfied.
Returning to Earth and enlisting—Hunter Corps included—had been a brilliant choice.
"Wonder how the others will react if I tell them."
What he'd achieved would have been historic in Isgard.
An impossibility.
An immutable law.
Broken by a jack-in-the-box item.
"Alright. Today, I'll focus solely on raising Perpetual Engine proficiency."
That day,
Kim Minjun holed up in the training room until dawn.
With the gleeful expression of a kid who'd found a fun new toy.
**
"I finally found it! Finally! Mr. Kim Minjun!"
Gaejwasan Mountain in Busan.
Lee Bonggu, who had been scouring for magi, grinned at the dungeon leaking it.
"Kehahaha. This'll shut up that Kim Seohyun bitch."
Finding magi was no easy task.
Earth's magi aura was so faint it was hard to detect.
Adapting to this different environment from Isgard was tough too.
Especially in South Korea, with its tiny landmass.
"I did it... I did it!"
Discovering a spot with potent magi on this cramped peninsula.
He was proud of himself.
"Ugh... All that suffering under Kim Seohyun... Mr. Kim Minjun."
Worm.
Rice worm.
Trash.
Trash not even worth recycling.
Words she'd hurled every time he returned empty-handed.
"If not for the money Mr. Kim Minjun sent separately... I'd have starved. That venomous bitch...."
Thinking of Kim Seohyun gave him chills.
But that ended today.
Reporting this success to Mr. Kim Minjun would silence her for a while.
"As a reward to myself, I'll have some seolleongtang today."
He recalled Mr. Kim Minjun's words: Busan means seolleongtang.
Sss...
"What? When did you get here?"
As he swallowed hard and approached the dungeon,
Kim Minjun's summon, Night Walker, appeared.
Sssk.
"What? You want me to yield it? Or you'll get in trouble with Master?"
What was this nonsense?
After all his hardship finding magi, now it wanted to steal his credit.
"I found it first. You know that?"
Night Walker writhed at his defiant expression.
Shiiik!
Then it shot toward the spot at high speed.
"No way! Even you? Do you know how much hell I went through?!"
Lee Bonggu chased after the summon.
Finding magi wasn't enough.
He needed to report the amount.
Dungeon type.
Every detail.
'Hm? What's that...?'
Nearing the dungeon, Lee Bonggu sensed presences and hid.
'Soldiers? Hunter Corps?'
About twenty people were checking weapons in front of the dungeon.
'What? Neither. False alarm.'
Looking closer, they weren't soldiers.
No frog camo, no black Hunter Corps uniforms.
'Those are fakes.'
Confirming their identities, Lee Bonggu reported to Kim Minjun immediately.