Jin-Woo's ears refused to believe what they'd just heard.
'...Penalty Zone?'
Ah—right. Come to think of it, he hadn't done his Daily Quest today. It had been a choice he made to test his Level Up gains and decide whether he could take on the Demon Castle Dungeon. Who knew things would turn out like this. Grooooooooon—just like back at the hospital, everything began shaking violently in an instant. Crackle. Crackle. The knights that had been surrounding Jin-Woo crumbled one by one, turning into sand. The world was changing.
'Ha... haha...'
Jin-Woo let out a soundless, hollow laugh. For some reason, a line the System had given him just before the quest started kept echoing in his head.
—Good luck.
Did it mean the quest would be so difficult that he'd need luck on his side? Or was it cheering for him to earn a high score by borrowing the power of fortune? Luck, chance—call it whatever you wanted. Either way, an opportunity had arrived. What mattered now was how he used it. Grooooooon—the tremors grew even more violent. Instead of struggling to keep his balance, Jin-Woo surrendered his body to the shaking and gently closed his eyes.
'Don't panic...'
Then came the sensation of his body floating upward, and every sound vanished in an instant. When he opened his eyes again, he was in the middle of a desert. Jin-Woo collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"Cough—hahh, haaah—"
He dug both hands into the sand and exhaled the breath he'd been holding with everything he had. Fresh air flooded through his lungs and spread throughout his body. That was more like it.
"I think I might actually live."
Washed over by a wave of relief, Jin-Woo flopped onto his back right where he was. A pitch-black sky stretched endlessly overhead, a vast, ink-dark ceiling filling his vision. It was exactly the Penalty Zone as he remembered it.
'Oh wait—this is no time to be lying around.'
Having just escaped from a dangerous place, he'd nearly forgotten that this wasn't exactly safe either. Still, he didn't feel like getting up, so Jin-Woo stayed on his back and pulled up his Status Window.
[HP: 104 / 10,270] [MP: 202 / 850] [Fatigue: 91]
No wonder he could barely move—his fatigue had gone past 90.
'Has fatigue ever gone past 90 before? I don't think so.'
He really didn't want to lift a single finger. His HP was one thing, but lowering his fatigue was the more urgent matter.
"Store."
Ding. The words "Buy" and "Sell" appeared in midair. It was a sorry excuse for a store with absolutely no trace of any real effort put into it, but today it had never looked more welcome. He picked the most expensive healing potion and purchased it. The moment the purchase was confirmed, a glass vial filled with red liquid appeared at the tip of his outstretched hand. Pop. Jin-Woo laboriously pulled the cork free and tilted the potion straight into his mouth. Gul-p, gul-p. The red liquid slid down his esophagus and into his body.
[Fatigue is recovering.] [Fatigue is recovering.] [Fatigue is recovering.]
Maybe it was because it was a top-grade potion, but after just one bottle, he could see his fatigue steadily dropping. Yet oddly enough, his HP hadn't budged at all.
[HP: 106 / 10,270] [MP: 204 / 850] [Fatigue: 0]
In the end, even as the bottle ran dry, his HP hadn't recovered. A stark contrast to his fatigue hitting zero.
'Why?'
Only after he tipped the very last drop into his mouth did he understand. Ding.
[When remaining HP is below 10%, HP cannot be restored with healing potions.]
The reason was simple. His HP was too low.
'Fair enough...'
Healing magic had its limits too. It wasn't a foreign concept. Just as the range of treatment varied depending on a healer's skill level, potions apparently also had a threshold beyond which they couldn't heal.
'So the cutoff is 10 percent.'
Good to know. He'd been relying on potions blindly and nearly would've been caught off guard at a critical moment. That's why experience matters. Wasn't there a saying about that? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's the power of experience. And fortunately, Jin-Woo had experience with this Penalty Zone.
'The timing should be about right now...'
Sure enough. He felt the aura of a living creature below. Jin-Woo tensed his body and sprang to his feet like a coiled spring. His body was light as a feather. The potion had fully restored his strength. Thwack! He landed at a distance and turned to look behind him. Shhhhhh. Just as he'd expected, the spot where he'd been lying moments ago sank downward, forming a pit in the sand.
'Last time I was watching from that spot, wondering if I was going to slide in and die.'
Now he could stand back and observe calmly. At the very bottom of the sand pit, something began to churn and heave as if boiling. Then—SHWOAAA! Sand erupted upward like a pillar, and a massive centipede revealed its terrifying form.
"SCREEEEE!"
Everything matched his memory.
'It was so scary the first time I saw it...'
Now it looked like something from a slow-motion replay. Jin-Woo's gaze traveled upward. There, right above the centipede's head, he made out the bright red letters.
[Venomfang Giant Sand Centipede]
A red name. The same color as Cerberus he'd seen in the Demon Castle Dungeon. Right on cue, a quest message appeared. Ding!
[Penalty Quest: Survival] Objective: Survive until the required time elapses. Required Time: 4 hours. Time Remaining: 4 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds.
Jin-Woo clenched his fist tight after reading the message.
'This gives me time to stall.'
Since he hadn't used an Instant Return Stone to escape the Dungeon immediately, there was still a chance.
'Once the Penalty Quest ends, I'll probably be transported right back.'
And if the time spent in the Penalty Zone counted toward his time survived? His promotion points would skyrocket. He didn't know yet how big an impact that would have.
'But still...'
Considering how much influence the System normally had on him, this was sure to be a huge boost.
'Four whole hours!'
He hadn't been able to last ten minutes and had to pull out an Instant Return Stone, but thanks to being transported to the Penalty Zone, he'd gotten four hours for free. One problem remained: whether he could survive here and escape safely with only around 100 HP. Since potions couldn't restore his HP, he had to take out centipedes without taking damage until he could Level Up. He'd been given a sort of mission.
'...Let's do this.'
Jin-Woo summoned "Kasaka's Venom Fang." And then—
[Time Remaining: 3 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]
The moment the Penalty Quest began, he shot forward. The centipede hadn't even started to move yet. In the blink of an eye, Jin-Woo closed the distance and leaped lightly in front of the centipede. Thwack! With a single bound, he landed on a leg halfway up the creature's body. Then, stepping on its segments one by one, he carved wounds across its carapace. Crack! Crunch! Crack! Every time the reverse-gripped "Kasaka's Venom Fang" scraped past, the exospliture split open and fluid sprayed out. SCREEEEE! The centipede thrashed and screamed in pain with every wound.
'Sprint!'
Jin-Woo's legs moved even faster. Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack! In an instant, he reached the very top of the centipede's head. He gripped the dagger's hilt with both hands.
And then!
'Critical Strike!'
He used the skill and drove the dagger into the centipede's head with all his strength. The reversed blade sank deep into its skull. Crunch!
['Critical Strike' skill has leveled up!]
'Yes!'
A rare piece of good news! The leveled-up Critical Strike did serious damage—the centipede whipped its head back and forth in agony. Scree, screeee! Jin-Woo didn't stop there. Stepping on the centipede's head, he moved toward its back. The unprotected expanse of its back was exposed. Thunk! He plunged the dagger deep into the centipede's back and dropped straight down.
KRRRRAAACK! With his Strength stat past 120 and the pull of gravity from a five-story drop to the ground, the centipede's back split open beautifully. KRRRAACK! Thud. Jin-Woo landed safely. SCREEEEE, SCREEEEE! The centipede sprayed fluid in every direction and shook its massive body before slowly toppling forward. BOOM. The centipede collapsed, sending up a cloud of sand. Ding.
[Venomfang Giant Sand Centipede has been defeated.]
Jin-Woo brushed the dust from his fingertips and checked the time.
[Time Remaining: 3 hours 59 minutes 42 seconds.]
'It took 17 seconds to get here.'
He'd killed the centipede in under twenty seconds. Completely different from fighting Cerberus, a monster of the same rank. He'd become stronger on a whole different level.
'Well, with all the levels I've gained and the gear I've equipped since then...'
That was to be expected. He now felt confident he could hunt without losing any HP.
'The question is whether there are enough monsters here to grind all the way to a Level Up...'
That was what he needed if he was going to have any shot when he returned to the job-change quest. Going back to the job-change dungeon without recovering HP would only mean a pointless death. But just then, sand pillars began to rise around him one after another. Shwooooosh—shwooooosh—giant centipedes, drawn by the scent of their kin's blood. SCREEEEE—SCREEEEE—Jin-Woo's face lit up at once.
'How many of these things are there?'
Watching centipedes poking their heads up from every direction, Jin-Woo couldn't hide the smile spreading across his face.
***
[Level Up!] [Level Up!] [Level Up!] [Level Up!]
After a grueling four-hour battle with the centipedes, he'd gained four more levels, reaching level 51. The Penalty Quest was also drawing to a close.
[Penalty Quest: Survival] Objective: Survive until the required time elapses. Required Time: 4 hours. Time Remaining: 0 hours 3 minutes 19 seconds.
Time to go back soon. Jin-Woo looked around. The area was littered with centipede corpses. Thanks to them, he'd recovered his stamina.
'No items or gold as bonus loot is a shame, but...'
Getting drops in a zone designed as punishment would've been the strange thing, honestly. Now it was time to prepare.
'Store.'
[Gold on hand: 3,115,629 gold]
Humanoid monsters had always been generous with their purses, and getting 1.5 million gold at once from Igrit had made a big difference. He had more than enough funds. Jin-Woo spent almost all his gold to buy a weapon. One item in particular caught his eye.
[Item: Night Killer] Acquisition Difficulty: B Type: Dagger Attack Power +75 A dagger honed to be hard and sharp enough to cleave through knight armor. Its serrated blade prevents it from slipping easily against armored surfaces. Effect 'Knight Slayer': Deals 25% additional damage when attacking targets wearing heavy armor.
A weapon specialized in killing armored targets. It cost 2.8 million gold—nearly everything he had—but right now he didn't have the luxury of being picky.
'I can't take gold to the afterlife.'
Without hesitation, he selected purchase.
[You have purchased 'Night Killer'.] [You have purchased a 'Bandage'.]
Along with the "Night Killer," Jin-Woo bought a single bandage. A dagger with a terrifying, saw-toothed blade. He gripped the "Night Killer" tightly in his right hand, then wrapped and bound the bandage firmly around it. Swish! Swish-swish! He gave the "Night Killer" a few swings—it felt seamless, as if it had become part of his arm.
'At least I won't drop it.'
He briefly considered wrapping his left hand around "Kasaka's Venom Fang" as well but decided against it. Not being able to use either hand was too inconvenient. It was better to keep at least one hand with free fingers. He was putting the remaining bandage into storage when he spotted the rune stone he'd gotten from Igrit.
'Oh right, I have this.'
[Rune Stone: Ruler's Touch] Shatter the rune stone to absorb the skill.
Now was the time to grab at every straw. Whether it was an item or a skill, he needed to collect every bit of power he could. Jin-Woo shattered the rune stone without a second thought.
[You have learned 'Skill: Ruler's Touch'.] [Skill: Ruler's Touch Lv.1] Active Skill. No mana required. You can exert physical influence on objects without touching them directly.
'Ah...'
The moment he read the description, a scene flashed through his mind. It was when Igrit had extended a hand toward his longsword lying far away.
'So that's the skill he used to move the sword.'
A skill that could move objects from a distance with willpower alone! And it cost no mana.
'If the description is accurate and it can move any object, this is incredible.'
Jin-Woo immediately tested it on a centipede corpse lying limp nearby.
[Proficiency is too low. Cannot move.] [Proficiency is too low. Cannot move.]
Moving a heavy object apparently required considerable proficiency.
'What about this?'
Jin-Woo dropped "Kasaka's Venom Fang" at his feet and reached toward the floor with his hand. The dagger rose easily. Thwack!
'Oh.'
Jin-Woo snatched the dagger's hilt and stared at it with fascination.
'Nice. This should come in handy.'
With that, his preparations were complete. He looked up, and the required time was nearly over.
[Time Remaining: 0 hours 0 minutes 4 seconds]
The four turned to three, and a System message appeared. Ding.
[The Penalty Quest will end shortly.]
Then came another message. Ding.
[Because you hunted within the Penalty Zone, the difficulty of the next Penalty Quest has been increased.]
Difficulty increase. They wanted to make it harder so the penalty felt like a proper penalty. But would there even be a next time? Jin-Woo swallowed hard.
'The job-change quest starts again now.'
Hundreds—maybe more—of monsters would be waiting for him in the boss room. Possibly even more than before. He was told he was going back, but really he was being thrown in. HP, mana, fatigue, equipment, skills—and his mindset. Every aspect was far better than when he'd first set foot there, but the thought of going back made his nerves fire regardless. Thump, thump, thump. His heart pounded so hard it hurt. Jin-Woo closed his eyes. To keep his composure. Before long, a mechanical chime sounded. Ding.
[Ending the Penalty Quest.]
'This is my last chance...'
When Jin-Woo opened his eyes again, his vision was filled with silver knights all turning to face him at once. But they weren't what mattered. In that instant, Jin-Woo's eyes sharpened with a keen, searching look.
'Mages first!'