Chapter 10
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Lesson 3. This Is Your Pet - 2
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After learning that the Dokkaebi Club was an artifact even the beings of the higher dimensions (whatever made them "higher" still didn't quite click in his mind) admired.
Ban Yu-won pondered how he could maximize this artifact's potential.
So he first neatly organized the Dokkaebi Club's characteristics.
To start, it could float around and move freely.
It had its own ego and prioritized protecting its master above all else.
It was transparent and invisible.
'As it is, I can't really use it effectively.'
The conclusion came quickly.
Of course, he could tell it was an excellent artifact for automatically guarding its master without drawing the enemy's eye, but it was still just an invisible club.
He could perhaps nurture its durability as a club by absorbing other concepts, but the lack of versatility was the problem.
That was it—versatility.
If this club, which could move freely and even had its own ego, gained the versatility to adapt to a wide range of situations...
Then it could truly be called omnipotent.
'In other words, I just need to make it freely transformable.'
Ban Yu-won searched around him for language concepts related to "transformation."
Thanks to his immature older sister, who had only recently gotten a taste for slimes—liquid monsters—long after they'd gone out of fashion, he easily implanted fifty transformation concepts into the club.
He tried to add more, but gave up when a message said the Dokkaebi Club couldn't handle concepts that were too deeply profound.
In truth, fifty was already quite a lot, thanks to the excellent compatibility between the Dokkaebi Club and transformation concepts.
After that, things progressed smoothly.
Shields, axes, spears, all sorts of guns, and even various tools for emergencies—everything except swords, which he planned to wield himself. He fed every form's concept into the Dokkaebi Club.
The major concepts alone numbered over thirty, with the rest just needing superficial mimicry, so he added 1 point each.
The total didn't exceed the transformation depth of 50, but that was more than enough.
He even had about 5 points left over.
"Hmm, now this is what I call a Dokkaebi Club."
Ban Yu-won snapped out of his reminiscence and nodded in satisfaction as he watched the goblins tumbling across the floor under a hail of magic bullets.
"Bullets? Still good?"
At his check, the Dokkaebi Club, now back to its original form, energetically swung its body in circles.
For reference, the bullets were real ammunition. By stealing the Storage concept from items like Grandfather's trunk, safes, and bags, he'd enabled the club to store a substantial amount on its own.
"Alright then, time to harvest."
Ban Yu-won took a deep breath and approached the pile of goblin corpses.
The club circled vigilantly around him in preparation for any surprises, but with so many goblins already dead and the commotion having been so loud, no more were approaching.
"Some are still alive."
"Kik, kiii...!"
Thanks to implanting the deeply profound Marksmanship concept stolen from the relic slingshot, the Dokkaebi Club's shooting skills were phenomenal. But he couldn't hunt down every goblin knocked out by grenades one by one.
Ban Yu-won personally ended the survivors.
There was surprisingly little shock, even to himself.
What truly surprised him was the golden strings flowing from their bodies.
Steals Demon 3.4, Life 6.8, Body 3.4, Murder 0.34, and Marksmanship 0.57 concepts from multiple goblins.
"Oh, ooh...?"
The Demon, Life, and Body concepts stolen from these goblins were astonishingly double those from the blind goblins!
But even more surprising were the Murder and Marksmanship concepts.
He hadn't gotten them from the blind goblins before.
Marksmanship aside, since blind goblins had nothing to do with it—had these ones killed humans in the past, unlike the blind ones?
Of course, the depths were quite low.
Especially considering he'd hunted seventeen in one go.
'Maybe before, they were too low-depth to notice, but since I already knew these concepts from elsewhere, I could extract them now.'
Realizing there was still much to research about his ability, he organized the stolen concepts.
Murder went entirely to his sword, Marksmanship to the Dokkaebi Club.
Demon 3.4 from seventeen goblins—splitting it gave 1.7.
Imparting that fully to the Dokkaebi Club raised Ghost Tool to 6.
Why only that much from 1.7? The club started with little "ghost" essence, and Ghost Tool absorbed less efficiently than other concepts.
But as they say, great oaks from little acorns grow.
With steady nurturing, he could create an artifact with immense potential and real power!
In a single battle, Ban Yu-won's code had surged dramatically.
To the point where the concepts he'd painstakingly grown overnight with his sister seemed laughable.
Of course, it was thanks to creating a fusion of science (modern firearms) and magic (magical power, ghost tool) via the Dokkaebi Club.
But there was one concern: the moment Life surpassed 20, absorption efficiency from goblins halved.
'Still, I expected this. In games, low-level monsters give half EXP once you level up.'
But it had come sooner than thought.
Imagining he might soon get no Life EXP from goblins made him a bit anxious.
'No, don't jump to conclusions. I've only fought blind goblins and these archer ones. Even without Life, there are plenty of other concepts.'
Calming himself, he stole the Bow concept from the scattered bows and Arrow from the arrows, storing them in the Code Core.
No need to wield bows with guns around, so just securing the concepts.
"Shall we keep going? Don't shoot the gun unless I'm really in danger."
Whoooosh! The Dokkaebi Club spun in the air in response.
He'd secured plenty of ammo via Grandfather's connections, but it was finite.
No harm in conserving.
'Maybe I can make more with my ability... later.'
Ban Yu-won sent the Dokkaebi Club ahead and followed, exploring the dungeon.
The seventeen-goblin swarm must have been an opening event; now, goblins moved in groups of two or three.
Mostly archers, but some with crude swords. Spotting such groups, he'd have the club prioritize archers, then duel the swordsmen one-on-one.
It was manageable.
More than that.
"They're weak?"
"Kuek!"
Ban Yu-won dodged the goblin's reckless sword thrust, stepped forward, and thrust his sword, piercing its throat in one motion.
A wave of emptiness washed over him.
He'd been tense thinking of the goblin warrior boss from the Blind Goblin Cave, but this goblin's swordplay was hardly skillful.
'Difference between warrior and regular goblin?'
Yet absorbing its code revealed Swordsmanship 0.05!
He wouldn't have gotten it without already knowing Swordsmanship.
Gathering every speck, he absorbed it.
"I could move faster, right?"
Whoooosh!
Ban Yu-won increased his exploration pace.
With the club blocking ahead, no need to fear goblins—his mind and steps lightened.
Five minutes later, he spotted golden strings shimmering on the floor.
'This...?'
It looked normal at a glance.
But noticing the strings, he widened his eyes and saw the unnatural mismatch with the surroundings.
Nothing specific, just a ominous vibe.
Reaching out, the string's end unraveled and touched his hand.
Steal Pierce and Trap concepts from the skewer trap?
"Whoa."
Ban Yu-won realized he'd have been skewered if he hadn't seen the strings.
He urgently stole the Trap concept. Pierce 1 and Trap 1 acquired, the floor flattened instantly.
Without the skewer pit concepts, it reverted to normal stone.
'Overlooked traps—my mistake, but this turned it into a blessing.'
Pierce (Skewer).
He immediately imparted Pierce to his sword.
Trap went to the Code Core for now as he hurried on.
Knowing he could detect and neutralize dangers early left no time to dawdle.
Absorbs Demon 0.6, Life 1.2, Body 0.6, Murder 0.06, Swordsmanship 0.1, Marksmanship 0.3.
Absorbs Arrow 1.5, Trap 1.
Absorbs Demon 1.5, Life 3, Body 1.5, Murder 0.15, Swordsmanship 0.2.
Ban Yu-won's dungeon exploration speed kept accelerating.
Compared to the Blind Goblin Cave from his practical exam—longer paths, ten times more monsters, at least— he was progressing faster toward the core!
He'd thought he needed to grow quickly to catch up to his peers, but if they saw his growth now, they'd be stunned.
Not just from concept theft via his authority.
More fundamentally, his combat skills, especially Swordsmanship, grew insanely fast with each fight.
Real combat—life-or-death struggles—awakened his potential rapidly, harmonizing with added concepts like Swordsmanship via his power.
'Huh, even specks add up. My sword path feels much cleaner.'
He firmly believed it was from stolen goblin Swordsmanship, unaware his self-developed depth in the same time surpassed it.
"We're here."
About two hours in, Ban Yu-won reached the boss room.
Even in the weakling-filled Blind Goblin Cave, the boss goblin warrior was strong.
So what about this dungeon, greeted by goblin archers upon entry?
Tensing up, he reviewed his internal code anew.
Compared to pre-dungeon, nearly 2.5 times growth.
Proof his level was low, but he chose to simply rejoice in the gains.
'Soul, though... no clue.'
Started at 300, rose 20 enduring the principal's glare, then somehow +2.5 in here.
No way to check it yet, so leave it be.
"Club, ready?"
Whoooosh.
The Dokkaebi Club, now a large shield, spun confidently in the air.
Its core Ghost Tool had grown to 9.9.
Clear the boss, and it'd hit 10.
"Let's go."
Placing his hand on the iron door and pushing, it slowly creaked open.
What goblin would grace him with its flesh and blood this time?
"A human dares invade our village!"
"Charge! Kill! We'll roast him whole!"
"Seize him!"
Ban Yu-won froze, trying to close and retreat, but the once-opened door swung wide on its own.
No wonder the swarms upon entry; roughly 100+ goblins crammed the boss room.
"Damn it."
Ban Yu-won muttered, pulled a shield from Inventory to block himself, and sat down.
"Club, you're up!"
Maybe his talent was artifact crafting, not combat.
With his wistful self-deprecation, the Dokkaebi Club roared to life again.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
"No, not machine gun. Ammo's precious!"
The problem: too many goblins.
The club downed five-plus instantly with gunfire, but others clambered over corpses toward him.
Mingling with them would shield from archer fire, he thought, lowering the shield and rising, sword swinging to meet them while racking his brain.
'Way to make shooting faster and stronger without machine gun mode?'
Slicing goblins, dodging attacks, his thoughts raced.
What was it... right!
'Fierce Beast! That's it!'
One concept dormant in the lion-eye slingshot, now in Code Core.
Split fierce "fierce" from beast, combine with shoot "shoot" for Fierce Shot.
Urgently pulling the Code Core, he extracted Fierce Beast whole and injected it into the timely Dokkaebi Club.
Then split fierce and beast...
Fierce 4 and Marksmanship 18.35 automatically synthesize. Excellent compatibility yields transcendent synthesis ignoring depth: Fierce Shot 20 completed. Perfect concept—cannot be separated.
He'd thought to split shoot from Marksmanship, but Fierce Shot already embodied ferocious shooting, so it fused whole.
Splitting was tricky anyway—better this way.
"!!!"
The instant Fierce Shot synthesized successfully.
The Dokkaebi Club, which couldn't speak, spun wildly in excitement.
Not just emotion.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Unbelievable speed for a rifle form, with rifle precision—fierce barrage downing 30+ goblins instantly!
"Kuaaaagh!"
"Monster! A metal beast spewing death!"
In that moment, the Dokkaebi Club evolved from formidable foe to monster handling 100 goblins at once!