Chapter 55
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The 8 Wager
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A whopping 8.
The truth was, Lingling had accepted the bet because she was certain of her own victory.
With the debuff removed by holy power, the task should be easy.
On top of that, she had used the Brainwash skill to easily pull the boss to her side.
It wasnt a clear achieved through her own skill, but one done using a cheat key.
Of course, even that alone warranted high praise.
The final round was originally focused on survival, not tasks.
That was why she had considered setting the Heavenly Energy reward at 2 instead of 1.
But this outsider hadnt been satisfied with 2 and proposed a new bet.
A whopping 8 of Heavenly Energy.
Insolent fool.
Lingling accepted the bet without a second thought.
To crush that insolent arrogance.
Lv.180 Shady Dark Alley was only a 30-level difference on paper, but the gap in power was like heaven and earth.
She had added debuff immunity negation, an extra boss, and skill restrictions.
Heavenly Energy wasnt a reward handed out lightly, so the conditions were extremely stringent.
Yet the outsider accepted without hesitation.
His arrogance from getting a Legendary grade ends here.
Lingling snorted and sent the outsider into the theme dungeon that perfectly recreated the Shady Dark Alley.
And two hours later, Jeong Hoon returned to the settlement area.
I cleared it.
What...?
Lv.180 Shady Dark Alley
He entered the Shady Dark Alley again, now with a level 30 higher.
Vision was blocked, leaving the surroundings pitch black.
Even under that fatal debuff, Jeong Hoon calmly pulled his bow from his inventory.
It was the Dragon Anima Bone Bow.
Where are we? Surrounded by shady bastards.
As he gripped the bow, Anima floated around him in lizard form.
Unaffected by status ailments, he had no trouble seeing his surroundings.
A dungeon. Gotta take them all down.
Jeong Hoon gave a curt reply and drew the bowstring.
Even without sight, his other senses were intact.
So he focused on them even more intently.
Step.
His sharp hearing picked up multiple footsteps.
Jeong Hoon released the drawn string toward them.
Pew-shooook!
Gahk!
The arrow arced through the air, piercing the vital point of a Dark Knight precisely.
He had faced these foes twice before.
Their builds, armor, weapons.
All stored in his memory, making it possible.
Plus, this wasnt an ordinary arrow.
It was an arrow made of holy power, like the one he used to hunt the priest () before.
The Dark Soldiers were weak to holy power, so one hit inflicted a fatal wound.
Impressive marksmanship. How do you get into such a stable stance so quickly?
Anima, watching from the side, couldnt hide his admiration.
You pick it up fast after going through life-or-death crises often.
They say humans unleash superhuman strength when their desire to live reaches its peak.
And Jeong Hoon had unleashed that superhuman strength countless times.
...You look barely over twenty, but you talk like an old geezer.
In his dragon days, he had met all sorts of masters from around the world.
Humans who achieved unbelievable feats in their short lives, not even granted a century.
He smelled something similar from Jeong Hoon now.
Truly bizarre.
Jeong Hoons face still held a youthful innocence.
Anyway, no time to chat.
Jeong Hoon drew the string again.
Excluding blocked vision, he focused on his other senses.
Martial Artist exclusive skill, Unyielding Will activates.
You acquire the skill Sensitive Senses (Rare)
And the responding Unyielding Will.
Vision blocked due to debuff.
But reading messages was still possible.
A hologram message floated in the pitch darkness.
Fast acquisition speed.
Jeong Hoons lip curled up.
Sensitive Senses played a key role in advancing to Super Senses later on.
He hadnt acquired it in time to upgrade to Super Senses in his previous life, but it was one of the skills that helped him survive to the end.
Pew-shooook!
The arrow flew again, piercing another Dark Soldiers vital point precisely.
Martial Artist exclusive skill, Unyielding Will activates.
You acquire the skill Soul Arrow (Rare)
And the newly acquired Soul Arrow.
From repeatedly hunting dark-type monsters?
Unlike his previous life, he had only recently gained holy power, so he was ignorant of the acquisition conditions.
Soul Arrow wasnt just an arrow made of holy power.
It was a completely different kind of skill.
Unlike holy power arrows that dealt damage to monsters, it temporarily incapacitated them instead.
It was akin to the Soul Blade that his traitorous comrade, James Marcus, had favored from the early days up to level 150.
Gahk!
Human scum! Can they see us?!
The cautiously approaching Dark Soldiers shouted in panic.
Once could be luck, but twice? No way.
Charge!
The Dark Soldiers rushed Jeong Hoon all at once.
Senses become even sharper.
Sensitive Senses was an active skill, not passive.
One use boosted all senses for 60 seconds.
But it had a 60-minute cooldown after.
Jeong Hoon slung Anima over his shoulder and deployed Black Field.
Black Field activates.
As the skill spread, the ground around Jeong Hoon turned black.
All stats are corrected by 1.2 times.
A mere Rare-grade skill, yet it boosted by 1.2 timesa cheat ability.
At the same time, the Dark Soldiers stats dropped.
Due to Black Fields effect, all stats of monsters invading the area drop by 3.
Suddenly my strength...?
What... Gahk!
The soldiers couldnt finish their words.
Jeong Hoon unleashed Myeongwang Fist Technique, pummeling the nearby soldiers.
Ears for hearing, nose for smell, skin sensing the thick dark aura from them, and the newly acquired Sensitive Senses hidden perk: superhuman senses.
A minuscule 0.0001 boost, but enough for Jeong Hoon.
Gahk!
Jeong Hoons fists battered the Dark Soldiers.
Of course, the extreme level gap and sheer numbers meant scratches accumulated on him over time.
Hey! You okay?!
Anima, watching the fight, shouted urgently.
Im fine.
Using Minor Healing.
Unlike his previous life, Jeong Hoon could self-heal.
The light scratches vanished cleanly with one Minor Healing.
Jeong Hoon unleashed Myeongwang Fist Technique again, sweeping away the Dark Soldiers.
Guk!
Kekhk!
Only after Anima handled the distant ones did Jeong Hoon catch his breath slightly.
This theme dungeon originally had no boss, but each monster wielded semi-boss-level power.
The event version of Shady Dark Alley was level 150, but with monster stats heavily nerfed to 130-140, making it easy.
But facing level 180 Dark Soldiers was no joke.
Hmm, ones still left.
Anima muttered gravely.
The dungeon shouldve ended, but NPC Lingling added a Dark Guardian to Shady Dark Alley.
So he had to hunt the Dark Guardian to finish.
Jeong Hoon advanced, relying on senses other than sight.
Hey. Over there.
Then, a familiar voice rang out.
Jeong Hoon doubted his ears.
Did Isaac come back?
He had sent him out, yet Isaac was still wandering Shady Dark Alley.
Guess clearing the task doesnt let you leave.
Somehow, Isaac felt a bit pitiful.
Wanting to leave but unable.
But Isaacs response was unexpected.
I came to help!
What?
I got out of the streets into a white room, just me...
Isaac vividly recounted what happened.
He exited through the portal into a white room.
Then NPC Lingling appeared and made a proposal.
Jeong Hoon would re-enter Shady Dark Alley, and if Isaac opened the door and left, hed be free.
But Isaac threw a tantrum, insisting he wanted to help Jeong Hoon directly.
So Lingling dragged him back into the streets.
Ha...
Jeong Hoon was so dumbfounded he couldnt even laugh.
He went through the trouble of sending him out, so why come back?
Even with event-lowered level, freedom was freedom.
This was an event-made dungeon, abandoned as a theme dungeon post-event at level 180.
Once escaped, no reason to stay.
Even if Shady Dark Alley was picked for the next event, the escape-Isaac task wouldnt appear again.
So why suffer again?
Ill help with all Ive got! Lets get out together!
...Then why not help earlier?
Why chime in after leaving the boss?
I just got back in?
Isaac tilted his head.
That was when it happened.
A new hologram message appeared in the pitch-black vision.
Time limit: 20 minutes
Escape NPC Isaac once more.
On clear, Heavenly Energy reward increases 5-fold.
Accept?
Ah, so thats why they sent Isaac back.
A brutal quest.
But refusing a jump from 4x to 5x reward wasnt easy.
Jeong Hoon accepted without hesitation.
Lets go.
Jeong Hoon and Isaac headed to the sewer exit portal again.
And before it loomed the Dark Guardian.
Lv.200 Dark Guardian
The guardians level was a whopping 200.
A boss 99 levels above Jeong Hoon.
Ill cover you! Use that skill you showed before!
Isaac charged the Dark Guardian without waiting for a reply.
Cant use Brainwash anymore.
Per Linglings bet, Brainwash was restricted.
Clang!
What insane strength...?
Unaware, Isaac clashed swords with the Dark Guardian and paled.
Previously equal in power, now the gap was vast.
Clashing felt like striking a massive boulderhis palms stung.
Pathetic!
The Dark Guardian sneered and pushed on the locked dual blades.
Isaac was clearly pushed back.
Urk!
Ill end you quickly!
Dark Guardian uses Status Ailment: Morale Down.
Ability use failed.
But unlike before, the ability failed.
Confusion flashed across the guardians face.
His gaze dropped.
A small glowing arrow was embedded in his chest.
Soul Arrow
Targets hit by the arrow have abilities sealed temporarily.
Seal lasts 5 seconds.
After 5 seconds, the guardian would use abilities again.
Had to end it within.
Jeong Hoon drew the string again.
Black Field activates.
Black Field deployed too.
He released the string, firing the arrow.
Fired with superhuman senses, it struck the guardians right eye precisely.
One spot even training couldnt toughen.
Gaaaahk!
Eye pierced, the guardian screamed and thrashed.
Jeong Hoon swiftly drew and released again.
This one hit the nape.
Grraaah! Human!
But the level gap was hugeeven two vitals hit, it didnt die.
You damn mutt!
Then Isaac thrust his sword into the guardians side. Stab!
You filthy bastards!
The guardian flailed wildly.
Pew-shooook!
Arrows followed in succession, all hitting vitals.
Only after about eight hit did the guardian collapse sideways, limp.
Level up.
All stats 1.
Bonus stat 1 granted.
With the guardians death, Jeong Hoon reached level 102.
Past 100, level-ups were rare.
He mustve been close after elixirs.
Whew, thanks. Now I can stretch out and sleep well.
Isaac grinned.
A portal shimmered before him.
Im more thankful.
With Isaac, he subdued the guardian faster.
And claimed victory in the bet with Lingling.
Now, time to return to the settlement and claim the reward.
Time to head back?
Jeong Hoon and Isaac stepped through the portal.