The Awakened special handling force had finished their meeting.
Vice CEO Kim Ho Jin had left.
After confirming he left, one man asked everyone a question.
âHey. Whoâs going to take the Kim Min-Cheol case?â
âIf heâs someone that goes through level 23 dungeons as if nothing, wouldnât I be risking my life if I were to take on this case? I have 3 kids. Ahem!â
âOh. Of course senior shouldnât be doing work like this,â the junior said as he massaged his shoulders.
He continued while glaring at everyone else at the table.
âIf you want this case, raise your hand up quickly!â
They were too busy giving glances at one another.
But that only lasted for a moment.
One man raised his hand.
âI.. I willâŠâ
âOh! Se-Jin. You looked like a smart kid from the start. Confident? When you start off, you should start with the tough ones to get used to things quickly.â
âYesâŠâ
âAnd this is something the vice CEO specifically requested of us, so make sure the report looks good, okay?â
âYes. I understand!â
âWhat did I say. All work?â
âIn moderation!â
âGood. Do your best.â
âYes!â
A tree cannot grow well if the roots are rotten.
The association worked just enough to keep up appearances.
* * * *
âWho are you?â
The man who was keeping me under surveillance was rummaging through his wallet for something.
With his trembling hand, he pulled out something and preceded to hand it over to me.
âAwakened Association Special Maintenance Force Se-Jin Kim.â
âFrom the Awakened Association?â
âYes. Thatâs correct. Here is my ID.â
The man gave out his association ID with fear in his eyes.
The association was made up of the elites, keeping a tight control over the Awakened.
This man must be either someone with very low ranking or a new blood.
After checking his ID, I asked him a question.
âSo, whatâs the occasion?â
âThatâs⊠Are you Kim Min-Cheol?â
âThatâs correct.â
âWhatâs your age? How long have you been an Awakened for?â
âAre you here to do an interview?â
âAh. This is part of protocolâŠâ
â18 years old and about 4 months since Iâve Awakened.â
âHm⊠Havenât reached the age to get a license⊠If you have a school ID, could you show it to me?â
âInstead of only asking me questions, how about answering mine? What is this about.â
âYouâve been put under suspicion of using a stolen or forged Awakened ID and an investigation has been launched for you.â
âIllegal ID?â
âYes. Itâs only been 4 months since youâve become Awakened, but weâve been receiving data that youâve been solo clearing the level 23 dungeon.â
Murmuring the words, he seemed to be trembling like a leaf.
âDid I say I was going to devour him or something?â
Now I was able to grasp the situation.
I knew this would happen eventually.
Even on the first day I met Jong Ho.
When I received the reward for defending against the succubi portal explosion, I was put under suspicion as well.
Thankfully for the idiotic association member who only tried to get his work over with, I was able to avoid the annoying complications.
All he wanted to do was to confirm the ID that I was using.
Wouldnât I just have to let him confirm and be done with it?
âHere it is. My school ID.â
âSorry⊠I mean. Thank you.â
After receiving my school ID, he looked back and forth between the ID and my face to check.
âWewâŠ.â
After checking my ID, he sighed in relief.
âAll done?â
âUm⊠Iâm sorry but can you also do a fingerprint testing..â
ââŠWew.â
I felt bad for Se-Jin Kim, shaking in fear and working late into the night.
To get it over with as quickly as possible, I did as he wanted.
Beep.
My information came up.
âThank you. It really is you. Sorry for all the trouble.â
âNo worries. Weâre done right?â
âYes. The confirmation process is complete.â
âIâll be going then.â
âItâs amazing. To be able to do a level 23 dungeon in 4 monthsâŠâ
âSee youâŠâ
I didnât want to waste any more time.
I left him behind and headed towards the bench.
âI got away easy this time, but seems like things are going to get bothersome.â
One day, my identity would be revealed, but at least I wanted to live quietly until I defeated Jin and his group.
I called Se-Jin.
âHey there.â
âYes! Mr. Min-Cheol.â
âLetâs go eat to out sometime.â
âR..Really? Wow! Thank you. Thank you very much.â
Se-Jin nodded eagerly with joy.
Now for the actual reason of calling Se-Jin back.
âBy the way, does this identity confirmation automatically get uploaded to the servers?â
âNo. This stuff isnât on the network. Why do you ask?â
âPlease delay the report as long as possible then.â
âHuh? Iâve already confirmed that you arenât an illegal Awakened yet. Thereâs no reason keep others suspicious of you.â
âCome on. Even if thatâs the case, thereâs no Awakened who accomplished what I did in 4 months.â
âThatâs true.â
âThe news on TV and newspapers will have me featured. If that happened, do you think other countries will leave me alone? Theyâll be asking me to transfer over. That would be a loss for this country.â
âAha! That makes sense.â
âWhat the⊠I was able to convince Se-Jin that easily? What a naive person.â
âAh⊠Yes⊠Iâll be counting on you.â
âDonât you worry! That cannot happen!â
âThank you. Then Iâll be on my way.â
âYes. Fighting!â
Perhaps Se-Jin is an airhead like Tae-Seong from my class.
There were many Awakened with fame equivalent to idols.
I didnât know if Se-Jin was acting, but I could tell that Se-Jinâs eyes shone with honesty.
* * * *
Se-Jin left, and now it was time to check my spoils.
Arriving at the bench, I dumped the contents of the backpack.
With one dayâs worth of hunting, I had gathered this many bloodstones.
Between the pile of stones, I saw the skill books.
Something like the thrill of lotto?
Since I couldnât tell the identity of the skill book until I scanned them, it was exciting.
I stacked the four skill books next to the bench, placing the skill book I got from the rank 1 Lich King at the very bottom.
âAll right⊠letâs see!â
The first skill I confirmed was âChargingâ.
Used by tanks or clerics, one uses a shield to push away an enemy.
Useless.
At least it wasnât a Fire Ball or Cross Cut. An F ranking attack skill book wouldâve been bad.
Because this skill book had quite the price on it.
Without delay, I checked the next skill book.
âCharging Shotâ for the ranger class.
I could use skills from all classes, but I had to give up on this one.
It was only usable when equipping a bow or crossbow.
With repeated duds, I was becoming less excited.
Click.
âWow!â
I couldnât help but exclaim.
On the smartphone was the skillâs name.
âGlacial Field.â
Out of all the A+ ranking skills, this was the first one I tried to get.
While it had an aoe freezing effect, the damage was quite lower than Meteor or Iceberg, so I had given up on learning it.
But if it comes to me like this, of course I have to learn it.
It was like an herbal medicine after a long exhausting hunt.
The finale! The only skill book left was the one I got from defeating the highest ranking Lich King.
The stronger the boss was, the better the skill book drop.
I had a good feeling about this one.
âProbably not a skill beyond A ranking, but give me a good one!â
As I put my finger on the smartphone, I became nervous.
After scanning the skill name, I felt it.
The skill explanation was as follows.
-Formless Sword Aura-
Usable class: Warrior (Other classes have 10 times the mana cost.)
Mana cost: Channeled. (Per tick, uses 1% of total mana.)
Skill introduction: *Cuts apart the target with speed that cannot be followed.
*Target cannot detect the sword aura.
*As the skill rises, the destructive force increases.
*Usable on (???) Â ranking bosses.
Cooldown: None.
Duration: None.
Skill ranking: Attack S
Additional information: Using the skill increases userâs physical and magical defensive stats increase by 10%.
Estimated skill book cost: ???
âS rank?â
Warrior class skill âFormless Sword Auraâ was an S ranking attack skill.
Out of all the skills Iâve obtained so far, none were an S rank.
I only had 3 A+ ranking attack skills.
And thatâs including the Glacial Field I got just now.
A ranking skills were not weak.
You can tell just by seeing it in action.
Meteor and Iceberg. No matter who the target was, they would receive massive amounts of damage.
But an S rank.
It wasnât just the skillâs attack capability.
Looking at the additional information section, it said that I would obtain 10% physical and magical damage reduction.
Wearing the Lich Kingâs armor set, each piece granting 20% damage reduction, and adding this new skill, Iâd only receive half the damage of any skills used against me.
âIt seems Iâm slowly becoming a monster?â
As everyone said, âAmateurs are based on gear.â
But at this point, I had already become a pro with all the ability and growth Iâve achieved.
And I had gear to boot.
It was almost enough to make me scared of myself.
Checking the skill book once more, I began to organize the stones.
Grabbing a fistful of stones and shoving them back into the bag.
It was to make sure no Awakened Essences would end up mixed with the stones.
âOne, two, three. Almost threw away one.â
After repaying the essence to the midget, I now had 3 again.
It was nearly time to Awaken Meteor and Iceberg, both of which were nearing level 100.
The last one?
Of course Iâd have to use it on Formless Sword Aura.
However, it would be difficult to raise this skill because it only hits a single target per use.
The condition for gaining experience for skills were a little bit different from skill to skill.
Most depended on how many targets it hit.
Explosion and Holy Missile were both single target skills.
Thatâs why I had not obtained level 100 with them even after one week of obtaining them.
Of course, I was using my infinite mana to level up my skills at an incredible rate already.
Not aoeâs, but single target skills are what differentiate me from other Awakened.
Thinking about that, I remembered the Assassin Weapon Throw that Jin used on me.
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That skill was also a single target skill.
Dodging my attack as if it was nothing, I became more confused the more I thought about Jin. There was something wrong, but I couldnât put my foot on it.
For that guy though, I had a present ready for him.
Hiding my evil grin, I headed home.
âMy bag is stuffed more than usual today, hehe.â