Chapter 111: The Blood-Drinking Sword - (6)
Mana synchronization was achieved.
The materialization of food was complete.
"Kugh."
Sanghyun chuckled.
The cup rice he often enjoyed eating had appeared on the table before him.
How could he not eat this delicious al?
For Sanghyun, who had no particular interest in cooking and didn’t attach much aning to eating, cup rice was a revolution.
All he had to do was throw whatever side dishes he had into the rice and mix it up adequately.
The excessive sodium and calories were a concern, but with enough exercise and training, they were easily burned away.
"Delicious."
Sanghyun emptied a bowl of cup rice in one go.
At that mont, the Greatsword of Fighting Spirit disappeared as it was absorbed.
Absorption rate: 100%!
Thanks to that, his Strength 150 and Agility 50 were inherited as they were.
Now, the void left by that sword would be well-filled by the Blood-Drinking Sword. He was already looking forward to his synergy with the new one.
■ Level: 139
■ Titles: 22
■ Constellation: Goddess of Luck
■ Stats Status
[Strength 1136 / Stamina 470 / Agility 475 / Mana 410 / Luck 451 / Evasion 510 / Defense 326]
[Unallocated Points: 0]
"My Strength is over 1,000 now. I can finally call myself a first-tier swordsman."
Seeing his four-digit stats felt quite strange.
Even more so when compared to his level.
A typical Level 130 swordsman would barely have Strength over 600.
Clearly, he wasn’t lacking in any stats.
Though ideally, his Stamina should be in a 2:1 ratio with Strength, it was a little lacking. But with his regeneration ability, it wasn’t a major issue.
"Since no additional stats increased, it seems the hidden options were all inherited as skills."
Sanghyun turned his gaze to the skill window, which happened to be glowing.
Two highly appealing skills stood out imdiately. Predation and Fighting Spirit.
『Predation』
■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)
■ Skill Description: When within 7 ters of a status-affected monster, you can instantly close the distance.
Cooldown: 10 seconds.
However, if the affected monster is killed, Predation activates, resetting the cooldown.
"So, as long as a monster is affected by a status effect, I can dash within 7 ters of it?"
The skill’s description was intriguing.
"Instant approach movent" usually ant teleporting to about 1 ter in front of the target.
Weaker monsters were naturally more prone to status effects.
That ant Predation would function exactly as its na suggested.
"If I use it well, I can rampage on the battlefield without much effort. Like a grasshopper."
Pleased with the ntal picture, Sanghyun smiled. He had already formulated a plan for its use.
『Fighting Spirit』
■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)
■ Skill Description: If you remain unhit for over a minute, Fighting Spirit accumulates, forming a shield around your body.
Fighting Spirit stacks at a rate of 1 per second, up to a maximum of 100, with each stack generating a shield worth 1% of your HP.
If hit, the accumulation stops.
"Not useful in close-range brawls, but great for travel or standby situations."
Fighting Spirit was also an attractive skill.
If he could avoid damage for 160 seconds, he would have a shield equal to his total HP.
This would buy him ti against unexpected snipers or surprise attacks.
"The jackpot is this, though."
He slung the Blood-Drinking Sword over his back.
Having finished checking his skills, Sanghyun noticed sothing rising over Blood’s corpse.
Half of a Legendary Mana Stone.
A perfectly split Mana Stone.
Its market value? At least 50 billion won.
"How much did this guy eat, exactly?"
If he also considered the Epic-grade artifact, the Blood-Drinking Sword, he had made a total of 175 billion won!
It couldn’t have been more perfect.
Now, it was ti to retrieve the corpse of the man waiting for him outside.
The gate raid was over.
He felt his energy drain, as if his soul were leaving his body.
"Phew!"
Sanghyun exhaled deeply, his body trembling slightly.
It was always like walking on thin ice—thrilling but nerve-wracking.
But this was the thrill that brought players into dungeons!
That night.
A man performing push-ups using only his left thumb, index, and middle fingers halted his movents.
He had been skimming through a condensed player news update when he spotted a familiar location.
[Shin Sanghyun, the latest sensation. Successfully solo-cleared the Beast Gate at Geomdan Station.]
The Beast Gate at Geomdan Station was a dungeon he had planned to tackle soon.
His na was Dokgo Yoon.
If you had to na the top 5 swordsman players in Korea, his na would undoubtedly be among them.
His clean-shaven head, without a single strand of hair, glistened under the TV’s light.
Thanks to his perfectly egg-shaped head, he suited a shaved look better than anyone else.
"That bastard was here."
Dokgo Yoon scowled as he saw Sanghyun’s face on the news.
No matter how he thought about it, the kid wasn’t even worth a al, yet the dia was hyping him up.
Dokgo Yoon couldn’t understand it.
Frankly, it was nauseating.
Every ti he saw a provocative headline suggesting that soone like Sanghyun might challenge his reign, he couldn't help but think, "Is the sword a joke?"
Even a non-existent sense of hostility began to stir within him.
"F*cking hell."
Dokgo Yoon imdiately grabbed his smartphone and made a call.
It was to his personal secretary.
"Cancel my Beast Gate raid application. I’m not going."
"I don’t want to share the spotlight with a greenhorn like Shin Sanghyun. I don’t want to look like an afterthought. Cancel it."
"Damn it."
Dokgo Yoon swore under his breath as he ended the call.
And yet, he couldn’t shake a lingering thought.
‘Just once, let him slip up.’
An arrogant, lowly, and ill-mannered brat.
If only he had the justification!
He wanted to personally teach Sanghyun the true path of the sword through his own strength.
To show that a novice's crude swordsmanship was no match for his refined technique.
anwhile, Sanghyun had returned ho, but unlike usual, he was not alone.
His visitor was Ham Jiyeon.
While returning from her work in Seoul, she had managed to get in touch with Sanghyun.
There was an overwhelming amount to discuss, from construction companies for the pizza shop to which businesses to form partnerships with.
Even while Sanghyun was away at the Gate, she had been busy with her own work.
Before heading back to the orphanage, she wanted to et briefly to express her gratitude, so Sanghyun invited her over.
In truth, he was quite exhausted from clearing the Gate, and he desperately needed a shower at ho.
As soon as he got ho, Sanghyun made a cup of coffee for Ham Jiyeon and imdiately headed to the bathroom.
And a little while later—
As he stepped out, feeling refreshed, a savory yet sweet aroma filled his nose.
“What’s that sll?”
“Ah! I couldn't just sit here sipping coffee, so I decided to make so fried rice! Do you like fried rice?”
“I do like fried rice, but why the sudden dinner?”
“You just got back from a Gate, so I figured you probably haven’t had a proper al.”
“That’s true.”
Co to think of it, he hadn't eaten much today.
All he had was three chocolate bars, just enough to replenish so calories.
Although high in energy, they weren’t exactly filling.
“Just wait a bit! It feels wrong to just say thanks, and I can’t exactly pay you back physically, so…”
“Pay back physically? What are you even talking about?”
Ham Jiyeon clearly wanted to express her gratitude for his support of the orphanage.
However, her choice of words seed like they could be misinterpreted, so Sanghyun corrected her.
“Anyway! I just want to do sothing for you. No hidden motives, so just enjoy it!”
“You sound like you have plenty of motives.”
“Well, does it really matter? Just stay still! Oh no, I forgot the salt!”
“Alright, I’ll wait.”
The sounds of bustling activity in the kitchen felt strangely foreign to Sanghyun.
To him, the kitchen was rely a place where the microwave humd when heating food.
If he ever felt like cooking, he might fry an egg—nothing more.
But with Ham Jiyeon there, the kitchen slled of life, and the sounds of cooking made his stomach growl.
It felt awkward, yet he enjoyed the awkwardness.
Thinking of it as a special event in his daily life, Sanghyun closed his eyes.
‘Co to think of it, since Ham Jiyeon specializes in ice abilities, maybe I can train my resistance against that attribute.’
As expected of a born player, Sanghyun's thoughts imdiately shifted to training.
Elental resistance training.
It was essential.
Repeating this kind of training could eventually lead to skills that resist or defend against specific elents.
For now, he hadn’t faced any monsters heavily specialized in particular attributes.
However, as he tackled higher-level dungeons and Gates, such enemies would beco increasingly common.
Fla-wielding Death Knights, ice-specialized Ice Mages—there were many types.
“How is it?”
“Delicious. I really like lightly seasoned food, and this is perfect.”
“I always make it a bit mild to suit the kids’ tastes. I did add a bit more salt just in case.”
“It’s perfect. Seriously, it’s so good.”
Sanghyun quickly emptied his bowl and served himself another portion of fried rice.
Maybe it was because this was his first proper al of the day, but it tasted even better.
And having soone to eat with made the al even more enjoyable.
“Jiyeon.”
“Yes?”
“How about we set aside a day for so intense training? I want to build resistance against ice attributes.”
“Training? Sounds great! What do I have to do?”
“I’ll explain once we start.”
“I’m always up for it! Training is a must for any player.”
“Are you actually keeping up with it?”
“Ahem! Let’s not dig too deep into that.”
Despite her words, Sanghyun knew very well that Ham Jiyeon trained diligently.
She had more than proven herself during the orphanage Gate raid.
“You can learn swordplay counterasures from .”
“Sounds like a perfect match. Hehe.”
She glanced at Sanghyun with a smile, clearly pleased with having a solid excuse to et him more often.
A brief silence followed.
As Ham Jiyeon finished eating, she suddenly threw out a question that had been on her mind.
“Sanghyun.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have any dating experience?”
Strictly speaking, none since his regression. In this body, he had yet to experience any romance.
If he included his past life, the answer would be different, but in his current life, Shin Sanghyun had none.
So, he answered honestly based on his present self.
“Not yet.”
“Then, are you a lifelong single? Like, soone who's never even held a girl’s hand?”
“Cough!”
Ham Jiyeon’s unexpected jab nearly made Sanghyun choke on his fried rice.
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