Swish!

Kim Chul-jun's sword multiplied into dozens in an instant. The numerous swords flew towards the monster, which had tough scales and a massive shell.

The boss monster summoned this time was Levitan.

If it had been an ordinary monster, it wouldn't have been able to withstand Kim Chul-jun's swords. No, it wouldn't have even been able to distinguish them and would have been skewered to death immediately.

But Levitan was different.

The one-eyed creature boasted exceptional dynamic vision. It skillfully dodged, identifying the real sword among the dozens that had split apart.

"Hmm."

With a short sigh, Kim Chul-jun stepped back.

Levitan, too, only stared at Kim Chul-jun, not daring to attack recklessly.

The standoff continued.

Both took a moment to catch their breath. And then, in an instant—

Kim Chul-jun spotted an opening in Levitan.

‘Now!’

His figure suddenly blurred. In a flash, he was right in front of Levitan.

Whoosh!

Flames erupted from his sword, burning fiercely without end.

Levitan was a monster with an extreme weakness to fire. At the sight of the flames, it momentarily recoiled.

Taking advantage of that moment, Chul-jun pulled a dagger from his belt and plunged it straight into Levitan’s shell.

Thud!

With a rough sound, Levitan’s shell cracked. Into that opening, Chul-jun activated a skill.

Bang!

The dagger exploded from within the shell, causing Levitan to burst apart. Immediately, a series of familiar messages appeared on the status window.

Skipping through the messages, Chul-jun scanned the ground. Among the remains of Levitan, he spotted the dropped items and a magic stone.

Letting out a short sigh, Chul-jun turned around and called out.

"You can come out now."

At those words, members of the Hydra Guild began gathering one by one.

To be honest, calling them guild members felt a bit embarrassing. After all, there were only six of them.

And even that number included Lee Jin-dong, who was on security duty, meaning he didn’t really count as a guild member.

"Incredible. You took down Levitan in just five minutes…."

One of the guild members held up a camera as they spoke. The recorded video would soon be uploaded to Entube.

"Not good enough."

"Huh?"

"It took me five whole minutes."

The guild member looked startled.

"Isn’t it more like… only five minutes?"

Levitan was considered one of the weaker boss monsters. But that only meant its attack power was relatively low—it didn’t mean it was easy to defeat.

Its scales and shell had a defense higher than S-rank shield items, making most attacks ineffective.

The usual method for a Levitan raid was to gradually wear down its shell and scales through consistent attacks before delivering a final blow.

On average, this process took about thirty minutes.

Yet Kim Chul-jun had done it in five minutes—alone. And now he was saying it had taken him too long….

‘That person must be even stronger.’

Chul-jun recalled the mysterious awakened being who had saved him during the ambush.

He was strong. Though Chul-jun hadn’t seen his combat firsthand…

…the awakened beings who had attacked him—Chinese awakeners—had all been incredibly powerful.

And yet, that man had swiftly dealt with them. How strong must he be?

He probably wouldn’t need five minutes for a monster like Levitan. He’d likely end it in just thirty seconds.

For the first time in a long while, Kim Chul-jun felt a surge of competitiveness. Until now, there had been few awakened beings in Korea who could rival him.

But that man was different.

‘I probably wouldn’t even last five minutes against him.’

Chul-jun felt a renewed sense of motivation. A desire to become stronger. A need to push himself further.

That was why he had spent the past few weeks buried in dungeons.

"Whew…."

With a sigh, Chul-jun wiped off his sweat and handed the magic stone to a guild member.

At a glance, it was difficult to determine the rank of a magic stone.

Size and color could give a rough estimate, but the higher the rank, the less reliable those indicators became.

To know the exact rank, the assistance of someone with a high-level appraisal skill was required.

"It’s an A-rank magic stone. Not bad. The purity is quite high, so it should sell for a decent price."

Nodding, Chul-jun picked up the item Levitan had dropped. It was a bracelet.

Name: Deikarantus’s Bracelet

Rank: A

Equip Requirement: Lv. 50

Effects: +50% magic defense against fire, +40% critical hit rate, Deikarantus’s Dragon Breath (5 uses)

Description: A bracelet taken by Deikarantus from the hero Kanaren. It was kept in a dragon’s lair.

"How is it?"

A guild member approached and asked.

"It’s an A-rank item. Pretty useful. It even has Dragon Breath enchanted on it."

"Dragon Breath?"

"Yeah. Though it’s limited to five uses."

“Oh. Looks like Leviathan dropped a pretty good item.”

“It sure did.”

“What do you plan to do with the mana stone and the items?”

“I'll store the item in my subspace and sell the mana stone.”

“Understood.”

“Ah.”

“Is there something else?”

“You're going to upload today’s raid on Entube, right?”

“Of course. There are tens of millions of subscribers who eagerly wait for your raid videos, Chul-jun.”

“Please don’t upload today’s footage.”

“Why not…? With this level of action, it’ll easily hit ten million views.”

“I said don’t upload it.”

Chul-jun’s firm tone made the guild member nod reluctantly. Of course, this was because Chul-jun was wary of the mysterious attackers.

The skill he had used earlier against Leviathan, the Phantom Sword Art, was essentially his signature move.

In times when there were no forces aiming to harm him, he could show it off to the public as much as he wanted. But now, things were different.

He had to conceal it somehow. If his enemies knew how to counter it, they might attack accordingly.

Of course, before that…

‘I need to become even stronger.’

“Oh, Guild Master.”

“Yes?”

“You remember you have an interview at 1 PM today, right?”

“Ah…”

His reaction made the guild member chuckle.

“I figured you’d forget, so I pushed it back to 4 PM.”

“I completely forgot. Good thing you rescheduled. By the way, which news outlet was it again?”

Tap tap tap!

While preparing ingredients, Seo-jun lifted his head.

Jingle!

He heard the sound of the door chime.

Two people entered the store. Both were familiar faces.

“Reporter Lee.”

“Haha. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“It has been.”

“There’s been so much going on lately. Just yesterday in Nonhyeon, a wanted awakened went on a rampage and killed eight people.”

“I see.”

“Ah, and this here is…”

“I know. Mr. Kim Chul-jun, you came with Reporter Lee today.”

“Today? Has Chul-jun been here before?”

Chul-jun smirked.

“Of course. I’ve been here a few times. The side dishes are amazing.”

“Then why didn’t you mention it?”

“You said you wanted to do an interview over drinks. I didn’t expect it to be here.”

“Ah… That’s true. Haha.”

The two sat down at a table.

Today, Yeon-jun had taken the day off for a class reunion. So, Park Yeon was taking orders in his place.

“What will you have?”

Feeling annoyed that he, who was usually in charge of cleaning the bathroom, had to do such a trivial task, Park Yeon asked with a sullen expression.

Lee Moon-ik chuckled awkwardly and spoke to Seo-jun.

“He’s still as amusing as ever.”

“Just place your order.”

“Chul-jun, what do you want to eat?”

Even when asked, Chul-jun didn’t respond.

He was staring intently at Park Yeon. Then he finally spoke.

“Have you been working here for a long time?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t I see you before? I’ve been here multiple times…”

“I’m in charge of cleaning the bathroom. You wouldn’t have seen me. Now, what will you order?”

“Then, by any chance, have you seen me somewhere else before?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Your voice sounds familiar.”

“They say a voice like mine is as sweet as honey.”

Though taking orders curtly, Park Yeon chuckled.

Chul-jun smiled faintly.

‘Guess I was mistaken. Well, that makes sense.’

“Let’s go with whatever the reporter wants. But for drinks, let’s do soju and beer.”

“Sounds good. Then…”

While browsing the menu, Lee Moon-ik tilted his head. There was an unfamiliar dish.

“Braised spicy chicken was added to the menu?”

“Yes. We started serving it recently.”

“Then let’s go with that. Chul-jun, that okay with you?”

“Fine by me.”

Lee Moon-ik ordered the braised spicy chicken, one bottle of soju, and two bottles of beer.

Seo-jun had made braised spicy chicken using Arutus before.

But he couldn’t sell it. It was too big, larger than a regular chicken, making it difficult to serve.

However, Dekanto was different. It was close enough in size to a native chicken to pass.

Seo-jun took out the pre-prepared Dekanto. The cooking method was the same as before when he used Arutus legs for the dish.

He removed the gamy smell with rice wine, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and used cola as a flavor enhancer.

All that was left was to simmer it thoroughly. But it couldn’t be overcooked.

Seo-jun personally preferred a fully reduced sauce, as it was great to mix with rice or spread over potatoes for a sweet taste.

However, as a side dish for drinks, it was better to leave some broth.

The finished braised spicy chicken, with just the right amount of sauce, was placed on a wide dish and brought to the table.

“Oh… The color is amazing. It looks delicious even before tasting it.”

“I agree. Thank you for the meal, sir.”

“Let me know if you need anything else.”

With that, Seo-jun approached Park Yeon. For some reason, instead of a drama, he was watching a variety show.

“Did you quit watching dramas?”

“No.”

“That weird soap opera should be airing around this time.”

“Soap opera?! It’s not a soap opera! It’s… a timeless masterpiece. But I’m watching this show because…”

“Because?”

“I’m improving my sense of humor.”

Seo-jun frowned.

A sense of humor? Even a passing dog would laugh at that.

Kang! Kang!

Regardless, Park Yeon had an unusually serious expression. Though, in his mind, he was always serious.

“I reflected on myself. I realized I lack humor. So, I decided to learn.”

Seo-jun was speechless, but that wasn’t why he had approached Park Yeon.

“By the way, why did that customer seem to recognize you?”

Flinch!

“H-huh?”

“You didn’t cause any trouble, did you? I’ve told you repeatedly, around here…”

“I didn’t cause trouble! If anything, I saved him.”

“Saved him?”

At the question, Park Yeon explained what had happened.

“...So as a hero, I took them down. You could say I upheld justice in this land.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

Seo-jun glanced at Chul-jun, who was enjoying the braised spicy chicken.

He didn’t seem like someone weak enough to need saving.

“Park Yeon.”

“Huh?”

“Do you remember who was attacking him?”

“I do. But they weren’t Korean. They weren’t speaking Korean either.”

“A strange language?”

“They weren’t using a translation spell, so I don’t know what it was or where it was from, but it went something like…”

“What did they say?”

“Nihao, ni shipaloma.”