Kang Oh prioritized one task over the others.
He would raise his proficiency in Demonic Swordsmanship until it wouldnât go up anymore. In other words, he would reach the âwallâ that Burkan referred to as soon as possible.
âItâd be nice if my ring gave me a spontaneous quest for Demonic Swordsmanship.â
Kuntaâs Golden Talent Ring!
This ring occasionally triggered spontaneous quests that yielded a huge increase in proficiency. If it gave him a Demonic Swordsmanship quest, then itâd make his life a lot easier.
However, he wasnât overly reliant on it, as he didnât know when itâd activate, and which skill itâd activate for.
Ultimately, Kang Oh had to invest a ton of time and effort to increase Demonic Swordsmanship to its max.
Thus, Kang Oh slept only four hours a day. Aside from his time spent eating, he spent his time going through all of the hardest difficulty dungeons he knew of.
This included the ??? Dungeon, the Saul Graveyard, and the Garden of Death. Basilisks, Chaos Knights and high-rank undead, and carnivorous plants over level 500 spawned in these three dungeons.
Kang Oh frequented these three dungeons, as well as some other dungeons in the Goddessâs Land. Plus, he occasionally went through the Volcanic Regionâs three hardest dungeons: the Heart, the Crater, and the Death Eagleâs Nest.
The ??? Dungeon was by far the hardest dungeon of the lot.
Even to this day, hunting Basilisks was difficult for Kang Oh. He couldnât hunt two Basilisks at once.
The Petrifying Poison was the issue. If he fought two Basilisks and got hit by the Petrifying Poison, then even heâd die.
Thus, he yearned for Eder whenever he fought them. âIf only I had the Legendary Healer with meâŠ!â, he couldnât help but think.
However, Kang Oh didnât just hunt in the ??? Dungeon. Instead, he alternated between various dungeons.
It was to keep himself from familiarizing himself with a single dungeon.
If he only went through a single dungeon, then his skills would dull.
However, there were only six dungeons he knew of that could increase his proficiency at an acceptable rate, and at some point, heâd gone through them so many times that he got sick of them.
âAre there any new, harder dungeons out there?â
He couldnât afford to go out and search for a new dungeon. After all, finding a dungeon thatâd satisfy him wouldnât be easy to find.
However, he received a message from an unexpected source, one whoâd offer a solution to his problem.
Kang Oh had told him that he needed to train by himself, so Sephiro had spent all of his free time trying to upgrade his weapon, the Lasselpino Bow, while nurturing Waryong.
â Itâll be helpful to you too.
â I discovered a ridiculously hard hunting ground in the Great Forestâs central region. However, Iâm not strong enough to hunt there alone.
â Itâs a historic site where the ancient Tuslam live.
âThe Tuslam?â Kang Oh thought back to everything he knew. âAh, them!â
When the Altein Empire was just a small, weak nation, they had been invaded by another kingdom and were almost brought to ruin.
Back then, it wasnât people, but the unique Tuslam that saved the Altein Empire.
They were a mythical race!
It was said that one Tuslam Warrior was equivalent to 100 men. He would get a chance to fight them?
â Iâll be right there.
â Yes. Iâll see you in the Nuwak Village.
Kang Oh immediately headed for the Great Forest.
Due to the fallen trees, the giant rocks, and the winding roads, Yumas were required to navigate through the Great Forest.
Kang Oh and Sephiro cut across the brush and trees from atop their Yumas, which were like furry dinosaurs.
Waryong flew through the trees and brush, and followed after them. It was chewing on something, so it mustâve caught the insects or small animals that lived on the trees.
âHow far do we have to go?â Kang Oh asked.
âDistance wise, it should only take 30 minutes. But as you know, passing through the central region wonât be an easy trip,â Sephiro said.
The Great Forest was located in the southern part of Arth, and was divided into the northern, southern, eastern, western, and central regions.
The central region was considered one of Arthâs most dangerous locations. Like Despia, most players wouldnât be able to explore this region.
But with the prevalence of soul dungeons, several players had come here, and equally many players had met their end here.
âWhy are you exploring the central region, Mr. Sephiro?â
âBecause of this.â Sephiro pointed at his bow, which glimmered with silver light. âAs you know, the Lasselpino Bow can be upgraded with the right materials. One of the materials I need is the Tuslamâs Token. Thus, I gathered information on the Tuslam, and came here after figuring out that their main base is somewhere here.â
âHmm, how many times did you die?â Kang Oh asked.
The Great Forestâs central region was an extremely dangerous area.
âYou went through a lot by yourself.â
âAt least I managed to find out where they live!â
âBut you canât hunt them by yourself.â
âAhem, the Tuslam are powerful. My one death came from them.â
Kang Oh was excited. If they were strong enough to kill Sephiro, then theyâd be worth fighting.
âPlease tell me what you know.â
âI donât know much about them either. What I do know is that theyâre all named. Iâm not sure whether thereâs a boss or not.â
âTheyâre at least level 500. Not only are they extremely smart, but their combat ability is top notch too. Honestly, each and every one of them is like a ranker,â Sephiro said, furrowing his brow. His face automatically creased when he thought back to them.
âThatâs exciting.â Kang Oh grinned.
How much time had passed?
Kang Oh and Sephiroâs faces were overcast by a deep shadow.
Because of the World Tree, the Great Forestâs trees were larger and thicker than any other placeâs trees. Thus, its giant branches and leaves served as shade for Kang Oh and Sephiro. In other words, they were in the central region now.
âWe have to be careful,â Sephiro warned. His words bore fruit.
All of a sudden, a black being popped out of the trees.
It was a leech that was thicker and longer than a human forearm.
Kang Oh quickly grabbed a Fire Bomb and threw it.
Upon impact, the flames spread like a net. The leech was scorched by the flames and fell to the floor.
âThis is a leech arrow. Itâs shot by a Calabro. This is only the beginning. A lot more will come flying at us,â Sephiro said.
The black leeches pierced through the brush and flew at them.
Kang Oh leapt off his Yuma.
In an instant, his hands were filled with Blood and Ubist.
His dual demon swords cleaved through every single leech coming his way.
Shards of light and dark red liquid flowed from their wounds.
[You have been exposed to King Leech Poison.]
[Due to your high poison resistance, you are unaffected.]
The Demonic Swordsman class offered him high resistance to status ailments, curses, and poisons. He was essentially immune to poison, except when it came to the top 10 most lethal poisons, a Basiliskâs Petrifying Poison, and Scapiâs poison.
Moreover, heâd been fighting the Basilisks lately, which only further increased his poison resistance.
Kang Oh pushed through the brush and rushed forward.
There was a monster riding a giant spider. It appeared like a long-armed, black monkey, but it only had one eye, and wielded a bow made of spider legs.
It was the most common monster in the Great Forestâs central region!
It didnât just look like a monkey, it sounded like one too.
There were six of them in total.
Their mounts, the spiders, began to fan out. The Calabros pulled out King Leeches from an opening on the spidersâ backs and notched them.
The arrows flew through the air, but in an irregular, zigzag pattern.
However, Kang Ohâs Hyper Intuition told him where their final destination would be, so he could dodge them with his eyes closed.
Thus, he was easily able to cut through all of them.
Dark red poison spilled from the leech arrows, but Kang Oh was completely unaffected this time too.
Their spiders quickly climbed up the tree.
Kang Oh leapt over to the closest Calabro and its spider.
The spider pounced on Kang Oh with its two front legs.
However, Kang Oh was much faster than it. He aimed Blood at the spider, and Ubist at the Calabro.
A huge shard of light fell from Calabroâs body, while red shards of light fell from the spider.
He had struck at the spiderâs weakness, the area adjoining its body and head together.
The two fell from the tree and slammed onto the ground. On the other hand, Kang Oh landed without issue.
Three harpoon-like arrows flew in between the trees, and struck the spiders that were climbing the tree.
They were so powerful that every single spider hit fell from the tree.
Meanwhile, Kang Oh stabbed Ubist and Blood into the ground, and threw two Fire Bombs simultaneously.
His Throw Projectile skill was intermediate-rank!
The Fire Bombs quickly flew towards his targets.
The two remaining spiders and Calabro were engulfed in flames.
The spiders shrieked and fell from the tree, along with their riders.
Kang Oh gripped both of his demon swords once more, and began killing the nearby Calabro.
Those far away from him were dealt with by Sephiro.
With this, their âwarm welcomeâ into the Great Forestâs central region and their first battle here had come to an end.
Sephiro and Kang Ohâs Yumas moved deeper into the forest.
An empty alley in the continent.
The worst known criminal organization, Red Moon, lived within the Shadow Worldâs only city, the Crowâs Nest.
Red Moonâs Four Heavenly Kings (Brutal Blade, Scapi, Taboo, and Shion) gathered in one spot.
âWhat is it, Scapi?â Taboo asked, as Scapi was the one whoâd gathered them all.
âOur targetâs in the Great Forest.â Scapi stroked her eye-shaped ring.
As long as the user possessed a piece of equipment that the target had previously used, they could track the target wherever they may be.
âThe Great Forest, huh⊠Weâve finally gotten a chance to kill him,â Shion said. His voice was filled with a desire for vengeance.
Originally, his thirst for vengeance wasnât this high. But whenever he compared his past, as the leader of the Hercules Guild, to now, a mere pawn in a criminal organization, his desire for vengeance only deepened.
âIt wonât be easy. You all saw his fight with Dukeram, right?â Brutal Blade asked.
Kang Ohâs fight with Dukeram was revealed to the entire world. It was also rebroadcast several times after that.
How many players could honestly say they werenât shocked by Dukeram and Kang Ohâs power?
âIt seems like he got even stronger than last time,â Taboo said.
âHe had a sword Iâve never seen before too. Itâs clearly an SS-rank sword,â Brutal Blade said.
âSo are we giving up?â Shion said angrily.
âIâm saying we have to be careful,â Brutal Blade said calmly.
âYou cowards. If youâre not doing anything, then Iâll go by myself!â Shion yelled sharply.
Taboo snorted. âYou and your little gophers have no chance.â
Shion had inherited Clownâs Madman Squad.
âDo you want to die?â Shion eyes were downright murderous.
âHaha. Youâre new here, so shut up and sit tight. If you donât want to die, that is,â Taboo said bleakly.
âEnough!â Scapi yelled. âWe have to attack him now. You heard the boss. Heâs getting tired of waiting. If we donât kill Kang Oh soon, then itâs over for all of us,â she said desperately.
What if he, the sole ruler of the Shadow World, exiled them?
They would be killed by the guilds or the bounty hunters, and would eventually be put in jail for life. As a result, they would be forced to delete their characters and start anew.
That was their life, so long as they didnât kill Kang Oh as soon as possible.
âMm.â The other three gulped.
âOur trump cards are even more lethal than last time. So letâs give it a shot.â Scapiâs eyes gleamed.
Brutal Blade and Taboo replied, and Shion clenched his fist.
âFinally! Itâs time to kill you!â Shion thought of Kang Ohâs face and gritted his teeth.