"Wh... what...?"
Was this the payoff of putting all his points into strength? While the stunned Jin-Woo stood there unable to close his mouth, the headless Lycan's legs trembled before it finally stopped moving. Then a familiar mechanical sound rang out. Ding.
[You have defeated the Steel Fang Lycan.] [Level Up!]
***
"Level Up?" To make sure he hadn't misheard, Jin-Woo hastily pulled up his status window.
Name: Sung Jin-Woo Level: 2 Job: None Title: None HP: 205 MP: 22 Fatigue: 0
[Stats] Strength: 32 Endurance: 11 Agility: 11 Intelligence: 11 Perception: 11 (Available stat points: 0)
[Skills] Passive Skills: (Unknown) Lv.MAX, Tenacity Lv.1 Active Skills: Sprint Lv.1
His level had truly gone up. And with the level increase, every stat had gained 1 point. It wasn't just quest rewards that affected his stats. He could also raise his status window stats through leveling up.
'So leveling up is possible!'
A thing he'd held the slightest hope for had become reality right before his eyes. His heart started beating fast.
'On top of that, the bonus points from leveling up are higher than quest rewards.'
The total stat points received from completing a quest was 3. The total stat points received from leveling up was 5. While it was inconvenient that he couldn't freely distribute the points, the growth from leveling up was far greater. Besides, quests had a limitation of once per day, whereas leveling up likely had no such restriction.
'All I did was kill two, and I leveled up.'
It was the same in games. At low levels, you could gain many levels in a short time. Jin-Woo's current level was 2. It was safe to say he was at the very bottom. But he wasn't an ordinary low-level player. His strength stat had already surpassed 30. Assuming each level-up increased strength by 1, Jin-Woo's current strength stat corresponded to level 20 or higher. If a user with level 20+ stats hunted in a level 1 zone?
'This is basically power-leveling...'
As if to prove his theory, the destructive power when he'd just thrown that punch had far exceeded any expectation.
'Strength only tripled, but... the difference in power wasn't just threefold.'
Jin-Woo's original strength stat was 10. Strength 10 and strength 30 had a threefold difference numerically, but the actual difference in power was greater than that.
'What if...'
What if an increasing weight was applied as stats went higher? Then this level of destructive power was perfectly explainable. On top of that, his movements were faster than before. Before, it would have been unthinkable to lightly dodge a beast charging at full speed, or to produce the sound of wind being cleaved when throwing a punch.
"Right, if muscular strength increases, how could speed not increase as well?"
Raising the strength stat had increased both 'power' and 'speed'. This was proven through the fight with the Lycans. So what would change if he raised agility? It piqued his curiosity, but there was no way to find out right now. To know that, he'd have to actually raise the stat.
'Even so...'
He felt it was a waste to invest quest-reward points into agility. If he put points into strength, he could increase both power and speed at the same time—why would he spend points on agility? That left only one option.
'Level up as fast as possible.'
Raise agility through leveling up. They say every little bit adds up. As he raised it one point at a time, he'd eventually feel the difference. Jin-Woo pulled the sword embedded in the floor.
'So, shall we begin?'
There was still one more target left to deal with.
"But... where did that one go?"
A Lycan that had been nearby just moments ago had vanished without a trace. He looked around carefully but couldn't find any sign of it. It must have escaped while he was checking his status window. No wonder it had been lowering its tail and cautiously watching him from the side.
"Tch."
Jin-Woo clicked his tongue regretfully, thinking about the lost experience points. As he turned to leave—
'Don't these things drop mana crystals or anything?'
A thought struck him, and he stopped walking. The magic beasts that came out of Gates all carried one or more mana crystals inside their bodies. With good luck, a rune stone might drop as well. Rune stones that let you learn skills, of course, and mana crystals used for various purposes were all traded at high prices. Hunters who set out on raids could be said to participate in hunts with the primary goal of obtaining these mana crystals in addition to their base pay. Jin-Woo was a Hunter, too. He'd completed the hunt but had nothing to show for it, which left him feeling let down. With a sense of disappointment, he cut open the belly of a dead Lycan, but as expected, it was futile. These creatures seemed to be an entirely different class from magic beasts. He'd explored plenty of dungeons but had never seen a magic beast resembling a wolf before. Just as Jin-Woo was about to brush off his hands and stand up—
"Hm?"
He noticed something glinting inside the Lycan's mouth. Jin-Woo pried open the beast's jaws. One of the Lycan's fangs was gleaming. As soon as Jin-Woo reached for it, a message appeared.
You have discovered [Item: Lycan's Fang]. Would you like to acquire it?
"Acquire."
[Item: Lycan's Fang] Acquired Difficulty: None Type: Junk A large and sharp Lycan fang. You can store it in your inventory or sell it at the shop.
Jin-Woo stared at the fang in his hand, bewildered.
'There's a shop too?'
Where in the world was there a system this unhelpful? The structure required the user to discover everything from start to finish by experiencing it firsthand. During the penalty quest, there hadn't been any explanation at all, and he'd nearly died. Jin-Woo ground his teeth and summoned the shop.
"Shop."
He secretly harbored the hope that, like in most games, a 'Shop' sign would appear with a merchant NPC standing behind a counter. But all that floated into the air was the same holographic green text he'd seen the first time he'd opened the message window. Just two words.
'Buy' and 'Sell'.
"..."
It was an exceedingly simple shop. Jin-Woo selected Buy. He didn't have a single coin to his name, but he was curious about what kind of items the shop dealt in. But the system was cold.
[Your level is too low to use the Buy function.]
He was already used to getting the cold shoulder from places where he needed money.
"Sure, sure."
Jin-Woo nonchalantly turned his attention to Sell.
Would you like to sell [Item: Lycan's Fang]?
"Yes."
With a clinking sound, the inventory appeared. At the very bottom, in the section marked Gold, the number 20 had been freshly inscribed. It had been empty just yesterday.
'20 gold.'
It wasn't even real spendable cash, and he couldn't even use the shop yet, so 20 gold didn't really register as any particular amount.
'Well, what kind of useful stuff would E-rank dungeon monsters drop?'
Whether it was a dungeon or an instance dungeon, a drop was a drop. Still, just in case, Jin-Woo was about to collect the fangs from the other Lycans when he slapped his forehead.
"I blew the head clean off..."
Jin-Woo turned away with a bitter taste in his mouth. The seemingly worthless 20 gold still flickered in his mind, but he couldn't afford to waste time searching for a beast's tooth in this dark underground when he had no idea where it had flown. But the moment he turned around, that lingering regret melted away like snow.
"Rrrrrrrrgh." "Rrrrgh." "Rrrrrgh!" "Rrrgh!"
The Lycan he'd thought had fled had come back—and brought a whole pack with it! A grin of delight bloomed across Jin-Woo's face. At a glance, there had to be more than twenty.
"Eureka!"
No, wait—that wasn't the right word for this situation, was it? Well, whatever. It was definitely an expression of joy. Jin-Woo gripped the hilt of his sword firmly.
"I'll rip out every fang and chew the rest of you to bits."
The terrifying look in the eyes of a man who lost all reason at the sight of money sent the Lycans into a fright, their bodies shuddering. In that instant, Jin-Woo launched himself toward them.
***
[Level Up!] [Level Up!] [Level Up!]
As expected, his levels shot up quickly. After scouring every corner of the first floor and slaughtering every Lycan in sight, Jin-Woo reached level 7 in the blink of an eye. He'd jumped a full five levels.
"Yip!"
When he caught the last one, which had been fleeing with its tail tucked between its legs, a strange message appeared. Ding.
[Title acquired: Wolf Slayer]
"Title?"
[Title: Wolf Slayer] A title given to hunters skilled at slaying wolves. All stats increase by 40% when fighting beast-type monsters.
When he opened the status window, the title had indeed changed.
Name: Sung Jin-Woo Level: 7 Job: None Title: Wolf Slayer HP: 766 MP: 81 Fatigue: 3
[Stats] Strength: 37 Endurance: 16 Agility: 16 Intelligence: 16 Perception: 16 (Available stat points: 0)
[Skills] Passive Skills: (Unknown) Lv.MAX, Tenacity Lv.1 Active Skills: Sprint Lv.1
A bonus stat increase when fighting beast-type monsters. The target was limited, but a 40% stat boost looked quite decent.
'There are plenty of beast-type magic beasts too—would this apply to them as well?'
If it did, he could take down magic beasts with ease during raids. But even without thinking that far ahead, the haul was impressive.
'34 wolf fangs, two worn daggers, one traveler's outfit, one return stone.'
While hunting wolves, items occasionally dropped from their bellies. But none of them were particularly useful. The worn daggers had lower attack power than the steel sword he was currently using, and the traveler's outfit was an equippable item—it was just junk meant to be sold at the shop. He liquidated everything and ended up with over a thousand gold.
[Held gold: 1,060 gold]
'...And yet I can't feel even slightly happy about it.'
No matter how much he saved, there was nowhere to spend it for now. Excluding the gold, all he had left was a single return stone. Earlier, when he'd been struggling to escape at the dungeon entrance, he'd been told a return stone was needed to get outside. Now, whenever he wanted, he could go back out. From here, it was a crossroads. Before his eyes, he could see the stairs leading down to the second basement floor. And in his hand was a return stone.
'Push forward, or retreat...'
In the past, he wouldn't have hesitated to live to fight another day. That was how he'd managed to survive comparatively unscathed in numerous raids despite his pitiful stats. Others called it a miracle, but it was the result of his own clever maneuvering. But now was different. He didn't want to turn back. If he pulled out here, he felt as if he'd never be able to move forward again.
"I'm sick and tired of retreating."
Wouldn't it be fine to push forward just this once? Jin-Woo put the return stone back into his pocket. His steps down to the second basement floor were light.