Chapter 5: Jackpot!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5: Jackpot!
As Seo-un stared blankly at the creature lying there with its eyes rolled back in death, the corpse suddenly vanished. In its place, a small leather pouch remained on the ground.
“Ha!”
Seo-un was speechless. Seeing a body disappear just like a monster in a video game was jarring, but he realized there was no point in questioning the logic of this world anymore.
Reaching out with a sweat-slicked hand, he picked up the pouch and checked the contents. A smile spread across his lips.
It was filled with beef jerky. Having secured precious food, he hurried outside to check the spots where the first two werewolves he’d killed had fallen.
Sure enough, two more leather pouches lay where the corpses had been.
One was also filled with jerky, but the other was shaped differently. It was a canteen made of polished leather, the kind one might see in a period movie.
Thrilled, Seo-un quickly uncapped the canteen and brought it to his lips.
It was full of cool, refreshing water.
It was the first water he’d tasted since arriving in this place.
After quenching his thirst, he stepped back into the cabin and pulled a bright lantern from his subspace. As the interior lit up, vivid bloodstains on the floor caught his eye. Those stains were the only proof of the life-and-death struggle that had taken place just moments ago.
“Whew. I really almost died.”
He didn’t know why, but if they had kicked the door down and attacked together from the start, he would have been dead ten times over.
“Come to think of it, they said the tutorial was skipped… but why? There’s still so much I don’t know.”
Muttering to himself, Seo-un began scavenging the rest of the cabin, a grin soon forming on his face. He had found exactly what he was looking for: an old book.
[Ding! You have acquired a Martial Arts Manual. Would you like to learn it?]
Seo-un pressed the 'X' button for now and flipped through the manual. As expected, a small window appeared beside the unintelligible characters.
[Naehaseong Mental Method. A manual for accumulating and circulating internal power. Chapter 1 explains Qi Condensation, while Chapter 2 covers its application and the effects of the Naehaseong Mental Method.
The Naehaseong Mental Method is exceptionally effective at relieving fatigue and recovering the body.]
[Would you like to learn it?]
This time, Seo-un pressed the 'O' button. The manual dissolved into dust and vanished, and the entirety of the Naehaseong Mental Method flooded into his mind.
“Ugh!”
As the knowledge took root, a sudden, intense sense of emptiness swept through his entire body.
[Ding! You have learned an Internal Energy Mental Method. Since there is no internal power in your Dantian, you may experience extreme lethargy. Your Dantian is currently in the activation stage.
You may now accumulate internal power.]
“Heh…”
He never had internal power to begin with, yet the moment he learned the technique, the void where it should have been felt agonizing. It was an absurd feeling—as if he had lost something precious he never even owned—but the hollow ache in his chest was impossible to ignore.
“An elixir… there has to be an elixir somewhere.”
Seo-un sat down, crossing his legs in a lotus position and resting his hands on his knees with his palms facing the sky.
Anyone who had ever read a martial arts novel had dreamed of learning cultivation at least once. And the crown jewel of those arts was, without a doubt, Qi Condensation.
Seo-un’s heart hammered against his ribs with excitement as he began his first-ever attempt at cultivation.
Following the manual’s instructions, he took a breath divided into three parts. When he felt the murky internal qi within the air, his shoulders trembled slightly. It was a strange sense of dissonance; he was sensing an energy in the common air he had breathed his whole life without a second thought.
The Naehaseong Mental Method divides the inhalation into the Upper Breath, Middle Breath, and Lower Breath.
The Upper Breath captures light air, the Middle Breath captures heavy air, and the Lower Breath captures the layer between the two. By holding these breaths within the body and forcing the different energies to collide, one generates a pure, powerful energy. This energy is then sent down to the Dantian to be stored, completing the process of Qi Condensation.
Though it was a method to obtain pure energy by clashing different types of murky air within the body, the process was so violent that "pure" hardly seemed like the right word for it. It was certainly not an orthodox technique of the Righteous Faction.
It was a mental method created by a twisted martial artist who, despite his talent, had been denied his birthright. Driven by a grudge against his own sect, he had forged this path to gain power quickly. After his death, the technique had been buried and forgotten—until now, when it found its way to Seo-un.
As the energies that survived the violent collision began to squirm and head toward his lower abdomen, Seo-un felt a stinging pain. While focusing his mind on the formula and the flow of energy, a stray thought crossed his mind.
Is… is it supposed to hurt this much?
It was a natural doubt, but Seo-un didn’t dwell on it. Having no actual experience, he had no way of judging what was right or wrong. He simply trusted the game’s system.
If this mysterious, nonsensical system—which effortlessly enforced things beyond human capability—guaranteed it, he believed it couldn't go wrong. With that faith, Seo-un continued his cultivation.
By the time the morning sun rose and illuminated the cabin, Seo-un opened his eyes.
It’s small, but I’ve perfectly formed a Dantian.
The energies that had first pierced through his lower abdomen had carved out a path and established a firm, clear place for themselves. That roughly forged path made it easier for the second and third waves of energy to travel. Once the energy accumulated in his Dantian had circulated through his major Qi Channels and returned to its source, Seo-un completed his Small Circulation and opened his eyes.
To complete the Small Circulation in just one night…
Even with zero practical experience, Seo-un had read countless martial arts novels. Even in the most over-the-top "OP protagonist" stories, he had rarely seen a genius who achieved the Small Circulation after a single session of training. Usually, for the sake of plausibility, such a feat was considered impossible even for a prodigy.
But the system of this world was making the impossible possible.
Seo-un stood up, watching the light stream through the window. Despite not sleeping a wink, he felt less tired than he had the day before.
This must be the effect of the Naehaseong Mental Method.
His anxiety had vanished, replaced by a calm clarity. To an outside observer, he might have even seemed to possess a subtle air of composure.
However, completing the Small Circulation and forming a Dantian didn't make his body feel light as a feather or grant him superhuman stamina like in the novels. He just felt a bit more composed, and his fatigue had cleared.
Just a handful. A single handful of energy that would vanish the moment I infused it into a hidden weapon. That’s all it is.
Seo-un could accurately sense the amount of energy settled in his Dantian. No matter how much the system helped, how much power could one really accumulate in a single night? It was exactly that much.
Seo-un left the cabin, turned on his map, and began to move. He planned his route carefully, intentionally avoiding villages or cities with many houses, seeking out only isolated spots like small cabins.
The magnetic field is still far off. This is how much it’s shrunk from yesterday to today…
Calculating the distance the magnetic field would shrink to stay safe, he took a wide detour around what looked like a nearby village and chose his next scavenging point, moving his feet busily.
Of course, he wasn't without the desire to loot a large village. Every time he opened the map, he felt the urge to stop passing by clusters of dozens or hundreds of houses just to scavenge three or four isolated ones. Moreover, it was only the second day. There were likely many players who still hadn't adapted.
But Seo-un stuck to his initial strategy.
His goal was the TOP 90. If he encountered another player, he had to assume he had no chance of winning. In such a situation, he couldn't afford to take even the smallest risk. If he ran into someone, he would fight with everything he had, but there was no need to go looking for trouble.
After a long walk, two small cabins finally came into view. They were dilapidated shacks, likely built for hunters to spend the night in the mountains, and their structures were similar to the ones he’d seen before.
He observed the cabins from a distance for a moment, then approached cautiously, listening for any signs of life inside. Sensing nothing, he finally stepped into the first cabin.
“Oh?”
A large object immediately caught his eye. It was a breastplate, something he had seen often in games.
[Ding! You have acquired an Orichalcum Breastplate.]
[This is a High-grade Orichalcum Breastplate. When equipped, Magic Resistance to fire and wind increases significantly.]
[When equipped, Agility increases significantly.]
[When equipped, Stamina increases significantly.]
The corners of Seo-un’s mouth quirked up at the string of notifications.
“This… this is a huge find.”
He hurriedly pulled the breastplate over his head. Though it looked a bit large at first, the loose armor tightened until it fit his body perfectly.
“Whoa!”
He was startled by the sudden tightening, but the fit was incredibly comfortable—snug without being restrictive. He hadn't imagined hard armor could be this comfortable. As he moved his body around to test it, a question occurred to him.
It said Agility, Stamina, and Magic Resistance increased significantly… but how am I supposed to check exactly how much they went up?
The Ring of Strength had given a very specific numerical value, and he could immediately feel the difference by lifting things. But this armor’s description was vague, leaving him with no way to verify the boost.
Maybe…
“Stats!”
[...]
“No? Character!”
[...]
“Not that either… Status Window?”
[...]
“Then… um… My Info?”
The moment he spoke those words, a small window opened in front of him.
[Name: Jin Seo-un]
[Race: Human]
[Trait: Martial Artist]
[Strength: 30]
[Stamina: 30]
[Agility: 26]
[Toughness: 5]
[Magic Resistance: 10]
[*Trait Stat - Internal Power: 5]
So my trait is categorized as Martial Artist. And these are my stats with the boost from the Ring of Strength and the breastplate? Then without these items, my stats would be…
Seo-un tried to take off the form-fitting breastplate. As he did, the armor expanded back to its original size, making it easy to remove. He took off the ring as well. As soon as he unequipped the two items, he watched his stats drop.
[Strength: 10]
[Stamina: 15]
[Agility: 13]
[Magic Resistance: 5]
“Sigh.”
He couldn't believe his physical condition—that of a man who had been a sergeant in the Republic of Korea Army until recently—was this low. Of course, he had no baseline to know if 15 was high or low, but as a veteran gamer, he had an intuition for these things.
It’s just a low number.
Considering that a single Ring of Strength tripled his power, he knew his base stats were incredibly low without even needing to compare himself to others.
“Tsk… anyway, this breastplate… it’s the real deal.”
At first glance, it seemed like it only increased his Stamina by 15, but his hunch was correct. The breastplate he had found was an item that doubled his Stamina and Agility. If his Stamina was 50, it would add 50; if it was 100, it would add 100.
“In other words, it gives wings to the strong, and to me… it’s just a convenience.”
Muttering bitterly to himself, Seo-un quickly put the breastplate back on and searched the rest of the cabin. He even went so far as to lie flat on the floor, pressing his face against the wood to see if any rings had fallen into the cracks.
Actually, he had learned this method from a pesty officer who used to inspect his cleaning during his military service. The man would press his face against a mopped table to hunt for dust, claiming that you could see every single speck that way.
Following that example, Seo-un could certainly see the dust piled on the cabin floor quite clearly.
“Tsk. Well, I’d be greedy to ask for more after a jackpot like this.”
Seo-un left the cabin and headed for the one next to it.
“Whoa!”
As soon as he entered, another large item greeted him, sending his mood soaring. It was a pitch-black cloak. It looked a bit crumpled and wasn't much to look at, but Seo-un reached for it immediately.
[Ding! You have acquired a Cloak of Stealth.]
[When equipped and synchronized with darkness, you cannot be detected by Detection Magic. It erases the wearer’s presence. If the wearer remains still in a dark place while equipped, they will blend into the surrounding shadows.]
Th-this is… basically…
“It’s a Ghillie Suit!”