Chapter 33 – Black Market Fourth Shopping (2)

Sungjin raised his hands towards the sky. The book basked the room in blinding light and gently settled on top of his hands as it dimmed. The Goat Merchant Gourmet let out a tsk with his tongue and commented

“Chapter 4 just finished… and you have already completed the ancient omnibus… What on Earth…”

Sungjin read the front cover. Without a doubt, it was ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. He turned to Gourmet and thanked him from the bottom of his heart.

“Thank you for the trade. I will head out now.”

“Ok, See you around. If you ever need to see me again that is.”

Sungjin thanked him once more and then left the shop. As he strolled through the market, he flipped through the pages of ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. Last time, this book was in another hunter’s possession.

‘Ancient Omnibus’ was a unique item which only one hunter could own at a time, so he could only watch as others used them in his previous life.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms – Ancient stories of the East

Ancient Legendary book

Active Skill

Declamation (V)

Read the Novel. Reading different parts of the Novel causes different effects.

1 use per day.

A tale among tales, a classic among classics; An Omnibus which systematically deconstructs the ups and downs of human and national relationships for the reader.

‘I can’t believe I’m reading this now…’

It was a whole new level of satisfaction. The effects were considerably advantageous even in the later chapters, but obtaining it since the very beginning was nothing short of over-powered.

‘I’ll have to test it as soon as possible.’

Sungjin carefully placed the book into his vest and left for ‘Ninety Nine Nights’ where Dalupin and Cain were waiting.

*

Once he returned to the ‘Ninety Nine Nights’,

“Woof Woof!”

Cain greeted him first as usual. Sungjin checked his neck. There was not a single mark on him; his injuries were healed, and not a single scratch remained.

Any wounds and injuries sustained during the raids were reverted once the raid was over with the Hunters being returned to the Black Market. Sungjin brought his face close to Cain’s ears and whispered

“You worked hard Cain. Thank you.”

“Wooo~”

Cain affirmed with a cry.

“Okay, okay,”

Sungjin briefly bent down and hugged Cain by his neck. However, he felt that something was odd.

His arms felt a little short. Sungjin stopped for a moment and stared at Cain.

‘Did he… get fat? Taller?’

“Cain, did you get bigger?”

“Woo…”

Cain let out a short sound. Sungjin could not discern the intention.

“Well… ok. Anyways, good work, let’s go eat.”

“Woof!”

This was easily understood. Once inside, Dalupin greeted Sungjin as usual.

“Welcome back, esteemed Hunter.”

“Prepare a meal for us please.”

“What would you like to order?”

“Hmm…”

Sungjin thought for a moment. The first item that came to his mind was

“Pizza.”

“Traditional Italian style? Or American Franchise style?”

“Eh… Korean Franchise style? Modified American style? Either way, with tons of cheese.”

“Understood. Any requests for toppings?”

“Bacon, Pepperoni, Black Olives, Bell Pepper, and Garlic, please. Also, lamb meat for Cain.”

“Understood. Please wait for a moment, I will go prepare your food.”

Dalupin bowed deeply and returned to the kitchen. While Dalupin was gone, Sungjin recalled the Spellbook he had obtained in the last Raid and decided to take it out.

‘I should Memorize it quickly before the Pizza is done.’

“Operator, give me the Spellbook please.”

The cube wordlessly obeyed, spitting out the Spellbook. Sungjin opened the crimson Spellbook.

Spellbook – Fireball

Class 4 Offensive Magic

Launch a large fireball. The fireball explodes on contact and the flames spread out dealing collateral damage in the vicinity of the blast.

This was a standard fire type magic. Most mages will have used this spell at one point or another. Sungjin did not hesitate.

“Memorize.”

The red cover of the Spellbook lit up, illuminating the Inn.

[Magic – Fireball was memorized.]

[Incantation for the spell is ‘Incinerate everything in your path! Fireball!’.]

Once he was done memorizing the spell, Dalupin returned with the Pizza. Of course, along with a sizable Lamb meat.

“Eat lots, Cain.”

Sungjin patted Cain in the head before taking the first slice to eat. The cheese stretched into long strands as he took the slice.

Sungjin cut the cheese with his fingers before stuffing the slice into his mouth.

“Mmmm”

The thick flavor of the cheese cooked on top of soft bread, with pepperoni and bacon mixed in; it was an overwhelming and succulent first bite. Perfectly cooked bell pepper and garlic also gave a refreshing aftertaste, as well as controlling the greasiness. The pizza highlighted the skill of a master.

Sungjin stared at Dalupin.

“Anything you need?”

Dalupin tilted his head at Sungjin’s stare. As if proving his half-owl status, his head tilted more than 60 degrees. Sungjin wordlessly gave him thumbs up.

On understanding what he wanted to convey, Dalupin lowered his head and answered.

“Ah, thank you.”

Title: Master Hunter

HP: 17100 MP: 3990

Strength: 2486 1912 (+574)

Dexterity: 2721 2093 (+628)

Endurance: 1710 1315 (+395)

Magic Power: 395 304 (+91)

Mind Power: 399 307 (+92)

Unallocated Points: 3820

“Hmm…”

Sitting in the warm bath, Sungjin furrowed his brows as he pondered over his stats.

‘I should continue to invest into strength, dexterity and endurance…right?”

Even if Sungjin was going to experiment with becoming a magic swordsman, the basis of his power was still that of a swordsman; Even though he began investing into Magic Power and Mind Power, he couldn’t afford to forget this important fact.

‘Continue to maintain overwhelming physical superiority, and raise Magic Power enough to be helpful.’

Sungjin reserved 1000 points for Strength, Dexterity and Endurance.

‘And then 820 points remain…’

He didn’t get much of an opportunity to utilize his magic in the previous raid..

‘Ah… I had even filled up my mana right before the fight with ‘Pach and Cho’Roch’, and totally forgot to try using spells on them.’

He was still not acquainted with using Magic. When in danger, he fell back to swordsmanship. Anyone would have probably acted the same.

It was human nature to fall back to familiar things unless there was a certain margin of safety and time to explore new things. On top of that, his spells were too weak compared to his swordplay.

‘If I’m not going to be using it often… I’ll try making Magic Power stronger to make it worth the while.’

Sungjin concluded his thoughts. ‘Even considering the class 4 magic Fire Ball, there shouldn’t be a pressing need to increase the mana pool too much.’

Thus Sungjin planned out his stat points as follows

‘With 3 to 1 ratio for Magic to Mind Power, raising 615 points to 205 points respectively should do it…’

Sungjin tried to calculate the points out.

‘304 plus 615 is 919, taking into consideration Master Hunter’s effects…’

Annoyed already at the calculations, Sungjin called for the Operator’s help.

“Operator, what would be the total points if I were to increase Magic Power by 615?”

[1195]

“And if I raise Mind Power by 205?”

[666]

The MP would become 6660. Using 4th class magic with 1195 Magic Power would allow him to fire the spell at least once.

‘If I ever need mana, I could always use ‘Lich’s Finger’, and ‘Moon Specter’s’ passive to recover them…’

Sungjin decided to try to min/max the magic; he wanted to see what it was like.

“Operator, raise Strength by 1000, Dexterity by 1000, and Endurance by 1000. Add 615 to Magic Power and 205 to Mind Power”

[Applied.]

Once the distribution was complete, Sungjin dipped himself deeper into the tub. Chapter 4 was eventful.

Trying magic for the first time, meeting Serin Han, fighting a building-sized Cyclops, killing two PK Trolls, running into the Wandering Merchant Ruff Han. And completing an Ancient Omnibus.

So many things in just a few hours.

“Sigh…”

Sungjin closed his eyes and let the thoughts wash over him as he pondered over them.

‘At this point… I’ve pretty much cleared every Raid perfectly….’

Sungjin tried to think back to his previous life.

[‘Spell Master’ has succeeded in completing the legendary ancient omnibus ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’]

‘Let’s see… what chapter was that again?’

Even a vague and generous estimate puts it at about seven or eight chapters from now. Sungjin was able to complete ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ in four chapters, so he felt that he was off to a great start.

Compared to blindly trying to complete the raids like last time, he was already several times stronger. Now, Sungjin was confident that he would have no trouble with the raids for a long while.

Of course with the exception of excruciating circumstances. That reminded Sungjin of the past.

‘Why did you do that?!’

Excruciating Circumstances. Sungjin couldn’t help but mutter a name that resurfaced from the past.

“Spell Master Ed…”

He still had no clear answer for what had happened back then, but it was all in the past.

‘No need to complicate myself.’

Sungjin got up from the bath.

‘Even if trolls get in my way, even if there is not one dependable ally, even if I have to go on alone, I will see it to the end.’

In the middle of the living room was ‘Moon Specter’ and ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ resting on top of a table. With these two items, Sungjin was more than ready to handle everything and anything for at least some time.

Once he completes the next raid and gets his hands on the ‘Blood Vengeance’… Sungjin wiped down the moisture and dressed himself.

‘Knock Knock’

Sungjin heard knocks on the door. There was only one possible person who could knock on the door this late at night.

“Please come in.”

As expected, it was Dalupin.

“Dear Hunter, here is the information page for the next raid.”

Sungjin accepted the sheet. Dalupin bowed and

“Then I bid you goodnight.”

He excused himself and left the room. Once Dalupin closed the door. Sungjin checked the top of the information sheet and only read the title.

‘Information concerning Kutan Desert’

Still the same order. Sungjin discarded the paper and threw himself on the bed. It was a long day. Soon after closing his eyes, he was fast asleep.