"Did you confirm it?"
"Let's head down first."
Kwon Jihan, still holding Yoon Seo firmly, landed on the ground. Do Deungsoo, who was waiting below, asked.
"Did you see it?"
"It's just a barren wasteland. Unless the Great Dungeon's terrain has changed since ten years ago…"
"No, it hasn't changed. There were tall mountain ranges and caves until Hunter Kwon Jihan destroyed everything. It was so vast that, like you said, it was overwhelming at first glance."
"…"
So that means…
Yoon Seo looked to Kwon Jihan for confirmation.
"Are you saying you turned an entire region into a wasteland?"
"Yeah, by myself."
"By yourself?"
"By myself."
Kwon Jihan nodded. Despite wanting to boast, his face showed no trace of pride.
Yoon Seo found it hard to believe, even though he had said he trusted everything Kwon Jihan said.
"How did you do it? You just erased those tall, rugged mountains like that? How… how could you turn it into such a wasteland? Even if you repeatedly used
"Honestly, I don't remember. All I recall is…"
Kwon Jihan began explaining.
"After I finished off the boss monster in the swamp zone and joined up at the central area, everything was already over. You were lying there, wounded all over. The healers were desperately using healing skills and feeding you potions, but nothing worked. Did you know your arm was broken? They had to splint it and wrap it in bandages in the most primitive way possible. It felt like we were playing house."
"…"
"Your whole body was fractured, but you didn't seem to feel any pain, just snoring away like it was nothing. It was frustrating and infuriating. I was losing my mind, but then I heard how you got injured. Apparently, with your mana completely depleted, you just walked straight into a collapsing cliff. That's how mana exhaustion works, I guess. Thanks to you, the central Revengers barely got scratched. You did great, Seo Chaeyoon. Seriously impressive. But everyone found out about your healing resistance, so they're not exactly grateful. I mean, who would be thankful when the person saving us gets hurt because of their healing resistance? It's annoying, really. We came here to fight, not to be protected by someone with such a massive handicap."
"…"
"Anyway, looking at you sleeping, I was so mad and frustrated I thought I'd lose my mind. My ears were ringing, and my head went red, and that's when the system message suddenly appeared."
Kwon Jihan briefly explained the message.
[Trait 'Berserker' has been acquired.]
[The God of Wrath has become your patron deity.]
[The God of Wrath greets you.]
[The traits 'Predator' and 'Berserker' resonate with each other.]
[Skill
You can either level up an existing skill or acquire a new one.
Please choose.
Level up existing skill / Acquire new skill]
"Of course, I chose to acquire a new skill, and just as I did, the final boss monster died, and the third zone opened up."
"Wait. Hold on… Berserker? Berserker, you say? The God of Wrath?"
"Is that what's important?"
Of course, it's important! Isn't the God of Death better than the God of Wrath? What was the God of Death doing to get their spot taken?
"It's not important. What matters is that I, who was on the verge of losing it due to rage, ran straight into the third zone as soon as it opened. Literally, I lost my mind. I wanted to go wild, but I couldn't do that with so many weak people around, could I? So, I went to the third zone and went completely berserk. By the time I came to my senses, I was standing alone in a barren wasteland. A while later, people came and started trembling, saying I did this all by myself. They said I also killed the boss monsters. But, like I said, I don't remember any of it."
"…"
"That's it. Any questions?"
Yoon Seo stayed quiet. Of course, he wanted to ask about the new skill. Honestly, he was barely restraining himself from using
He also wanted to argue with the things Kwon Jihan said.
Full body fractures? S-rank recovery ability would have healed the bones in a few days anyway. Most of them are already healed now.
And when Kwon Jihan said, "We came to fight, not to be protected," Yoon Seo wanted to snap back, "So, does that mean people who are prepared to die can just go ahead and die?"
As for Kwon Jihan turning the entire third zone into a wasteland on his own, it was truly amazing… something Yoon Seo had desperately wished for. However, losing memory due to rage was dangerous. Fighting without control was a risk to both allies and himself. He wanted to nag about that too, but he knew Kwon Jihan was already aware of it.
Yoon Seo hesitated before speaking.
"Good job. You've worked hard."
"Not that."
"You did really well."
"Something else."
"You must have looked cool."
"Hmm, still lacking a bit."
"Let's stop here."
"Yeah, I know how you are, Hyung. You tried."
Kwon Jihan shrugged, signaling the end of the praise session. Yoon Seo then turned his attention to Do Deungsoo.
"Considering how much power your new skill seems to have, I assume you used quite a lot of cooldown-reducing potions during those two days of rampage?"
Do Deungsoo, who had been keeping an eye on them, responded.
"Hunter Kwon Jihan… well, he was pretty out of control, so yes, we did go through a fair amount of cooldown-reducing potions. But thanks to conserving in earlier areas, we still have 21 left. Using 108 up until the last area is a decent pace."
They had entered the dungeon with a total of 129 cooldown-reducing potions, exceeding their target. Only 21 remained, which might seem tight, but they had over 200 mana potions and several healers with cooldown-reducing skills, so there was no cause for concern.
In fact, thanks to Kwon Jihan's rampage, they managed to escape the maze area, which they expected to be particularly challenging, in just two days, so it worked out better than expected.
"It's just a bit of a shame about Kwon Jihan's new skill. We can't use it anymore…"
"Excuse me?"
Was it a one-time-use skill? Yoon Seo widened his eyes in surprise, prompting Kwon Jihan to explain.
"The cooldown stacks. It started at one minute, but now it's up to a year. Every time I use a cooldown potion, it only reduces it by one day."
"So you won't be able to use it again in this Great Dungeon."
Kwon Jihan nodded without looking too regretful. In truth, considering they had managed to clear the maze in just two days, it was a small price to pay.
'Still, it's a bit of a waste, isn't it?'
Yoon Seo felt a bit disappointed that he couldn't witness Kwon Jihan's new skill in action.
"Kwon Jihan Hunter, can I check your profile?"
"Hyung, you don't even have to ask. You can check it anytime you want."
[Using skill
[Encyclopedia of People: Kwon Jihan, 22 years old, male
Rank: S
(Item 'Dark Shroud' improves all the attack abilities.)
(Skill
Traits: Predator, Evolver, Berserker, Chosen One
(Protected by the God of Life.)
(Protected by the God of Destruction.)
(Protected by the God of Wrath.)
(Protected by Gaia.)
(Gaia is watching Kwon Jihan.)
Skills:
Unique Skills:
(Skill
(Skill
※ Gaia's Skill:
Other information is not available.]
"Why do you think the God of Death showed interest in you but didn't bless you?"
"Not sure. I have no idea."
[The God of Death says, 'Kwon Jihan isn't to my taste.']
Yoon Seo suspected it was because the God of Wrath was more dominant, but he decided to let it slide.
"The
"Yeah, I think I burned the forest down with it, and then used
"How does its power compare to
"The single strike is weaker, but it can be used continuously, and since it's a fire skill, it inflicts ongoing damage. So, that's useful."
"Weaker? If we had followed you, we might have been wiped out."
Do Deungsoo said, shuddering as he recalled the chaos.
Sensing the danger from Kwon Jihan, whose eyes had turned wild, the Revengers wisely decided to observe from the rear.
"Congratulations, Hunter Kwon Jihan. You've gotten stronger."
Yoon Seo spoke again, but Kwon Jihan pursed his lips in frustration.
"What good is getting stronger? Will that stop you from getting hurt? Will it prevent your mana from depleting or stop you from fainting? Will it undo your healing resistance? No, right?"
Yoon Seo narrowed his eyes.
"You're still not over it, are you?"
"Do you think I'd get over it that easily? I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself."
"For the record, my mana depletion wasn't intentional."
"Not intentional? You could've just taken out the small fry while waiting for us. Worst-case scenario, you could've run away. That's why we stockpiled flight items like crazy. But instead, you didn't use any and tried to take down the boss yourself. And you say it wasn't intentional? Your sense of frugality is astounding. Maybe you should've saved your own mana while you were at it?"
"If I had saved my mana, dozens of people would've died by now."
"You almost died, and if you had, we would've failed the Great Dungeon and billions would've died."
"Don't exaggerate. Thanks to that, you also gained a new skill."
"Thanks to that? Did you really just say 'thanks'? So if I were dying, and you gained a new skill, you'd say it was thanks to my sacrifice? You'd throw a parade?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Not what you meant? It's the same thing."
Despite the sarcastic tone, Yoon Seo suppressed his anger, knowing it wasn't the time to argue.
Kwon Jihan had seemed to calm down during their earlier conversation in the camper, but recalling the situation only reignited his anger.
And it made sense. How angry must he have been to awaken a trait like 'Berserker'?
But 'Berserker' still didn't sit right with Yoon Seo. He thought 'Munchkin' would be a better trait for Kwon Jihan. After all, it was the first time things had improved while he was unconscious.
How many times had he wished for that?
For things to be resolved by the time he opened his eyes.
For everything to be over when he woke up.
But the situation had always been the opposite, and no 'Munchkin' ever existed.
This was the first time his wish had come true. Kwon Jihan was angry, but Yoon Seo struggled to suppress his smile, biting his lip to hold it back.