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Chapter 50 - Dragon’s Yeouiju (5)

All superhumans had a limit to their growth. Traits, skills, and even stats had clear limits that could be reached, and a person’s potential could be judged by how high their limits were. Usually, that could be roughly determined by the rarity of a trait or skill, so superhumans with high rarity traits were considered elites. Kang Shin-hyuk himself had acquired an S Rank characteristic through two trait evolutions, so his limit was naturally higher.

But how did a superhuman become stronger than that limit? There were two methods. The first was to keep things simple and work hard. Deeply exploring one’s characteristics and repeatedly training the body to challenge one’s limits would slowly grow one’s status.

‘Which is what they make the students, including me, do…’

The second was hunting monsters. The Gaia system itself was a system that presumed the ability to grow by hunting monsters. Abilities would grow by absorbing bits of the monsters they defeated. You couldn’t get strong by killing monsters weaker than yourself, but in contrast, you could get stronger quickly by defeating monsters stronger than you. It was like the idea of experience in a game.

‘Of course, you don’t see dramatic changes right away as you level up in a game, and you might feel your ability growing faster by training…’

Nevertheless, by hunting monsters steadily, your stats would surely grow. When Kang Shin-hyuk defeated the mutant troll and devoted himself to training, his status grew rapidly as evidence of this. As he had found in that case and in fighting the strong enemy in Kieron, this way of growth brought no small risk of death.

-Gyaaaah!

“If it’s just one, it’s worth trying.”

-Myu?!

“Onyx, quickly get in the inventory.” In front of his eyes now, there was a giant female mantis. This was a particularly strong one among the B+ Venom Blade Mantises, who was put in charge of guarding and raising the young. However, Shin-hyuk had already learned the pattern of her behavior through the mantis blade he had acquired. Holding it, it was like he was a mantis himself.

‘It’s odd when I feel united with the Godslayer but…this isn’t bad.’

-Kiiiiiii!

The mantis cried out and swung its front limbs. Shin-hyuk laughed quietly, avoiding the attack that had arrived just as expected. Originally, they collected mana in their limbs to fire off toxic wind blade attacks, but she wasn’t doing that. The reason wasn’t that she couldn’t, but because this space was full of mantis eggs.

‘I’ve heard rumors but…’ He had heard urban legends of superhumans who fell through single-shot absorption gates, falling into the center of a nest of insect-type monsters. They were able to gain enough experience to increase their status on the spot. It wasn’t known how high the experience value of a monster’s egg was, since those stories were relegated as an urban legend, but the egg of a B+ rank monster would no doubt be worth quite a bit.

-Monster eggs provide experience equivalent to one-eighth of an adult. However, their price remains the same.

He found out that information from the administrator.

“So…like this!” He struck the nearest egg clutch with the forelimb blade; the eggs collapsed with an unpleasant crunching sound. Whether the eggs weren’t resistant, or a direct cut was too much even for a regular mantis, the eggs quickly began to blacken and rot away from the toxic limb. As soon as he destroyed the clutch holding more than a hundred eggs, a message appeared before his eyes.

-You have suppressed a mass of beings that are harmful to the order of things. Bonus on membership level! You acquired 120,000HP! As a VIP bonus, you gain additional HP equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 180,000HP!

-Your strength has grown to B rank!

At that moment, he felt a rush shoot through him. Not just because he acquired HP, but because the moment he reaped those countless lives, he could feel something absorbed into himself. The growth in strength wasn’t much compared to the monster on Kieron, but it was still incredible. Shin-hyuk was half-way occupied with those ecstatic thoughts when…

-Kiiiii!

The blade of the mantis aimed for the nape of his neck, strong enough to kill him instantly if it hit.

‘But.’ It wasn’t difficult to avoid. He should be safe if he kept moving away from it to break the egg clutches first. The main concern was how much time he would have to break all the eggs.

‘The spiders will react after making such a commotion.’ And, more than that, the spiritual glue wouldn’t be able to hold a B+ rank monster forever. It was best to work as quickly as possible and then get out. Kang Shin-hyuk grabbed the forelimb blade with both hands before letting out a scream as he charged at the mantis.

“Break!”

-Kiiii!

The mantis spat out a glob of acid at him, faster than any bullet, but Shin-hyuk was prepared. He turned the blade to block the acid. It couldn’t melt through the blade as he swung it forward, causing it to spatter on a nearby egg clutch. He hoped the experience for that would be given to him.

-Kiiiii?!

The mantis crossed its forelimbs, and Shin-hyuk lowered himself as he continued his charge. He ducked under the swinging blades, waiting for the moment it tried to recover. Now that he could read the enemy’s attack patterns, it wasn’t difficult to evade them. He moved in close to its body as its balance was disturbed, cutting deep into the mantis’s neck joints. It was a perfect attack with uncanny timing, but true to the rank of B+, the monster didn’t die immediately after being dealt a fatal blow.

-Kiiiiii!

As Shin-hyuk tried to pull the sword out, the two forelimbs moved in behind him to confine him there. The mantis lowered it’s split head, revealing disgusting four-pronged tentacles protruding from within. It was proof that, despite looking like a mantis, there were actually monsters. It wasn’t information contained in the forelimb blade, either.

“Kh…” In a split second, he considered his options. ‘Can I escape if I leave the weapon? No.’ He realized he had to cut through with all he had. He squeezed the blade harder, clenching his teeth as he poured his spiritual power into the blade. His skill was activated, a dragon pattern engraving itself on the forelimb blade. As Shin-hyuk’s eyes turned golden, the forelimb blade began to vibrate.

-Kiiii!

“Khhh!” Kang Shin-hyuk gave up his shoulders to the counterattack of the enemy that flew in. Panic set in as he could feel his flesh being carved, but he had no time to look at the wound. Wind began to emanate from the vibrating blade, blowing the head of the mantis clean off. According to the forelimb, however, they could move for a bit without their heads.

“Hoo…” Fortunately, that was the end. There was no trace of the head or the tentacles, and the torso soon stopped moving and fell in place.

-You have suppressed a being that was harmful to the order of things. Bonus on membership level! You acquired 10,000HP! As a VIP bonus, you gain additional HP equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 15,000HP!

-Your Regeneration ability became D rank.

-You are poisoned. Even taking into account your regenerative power, you should take at least an intermediate level of detoxification. An appropriate item has been purchased immediately at the discretion of the administrator. 20,000HP will be deducted.

“Thank you.” Since the message was urgent, Kang Shin-hyuk took the detoxification drug that appeared in his hand without question. Looking at his shoulder, he saw that his uniform was a mess, and flesh had been dug out of his shoulder. The drug would neutralize the poison, but it didn’t help with the actual wound. He drank a recovery potion and applied some trauma medicine to the wound, which radiated pain through him.

“Ow…still hurts less than the troll.”

-Member…

“No, I’m sorry.”

-I’m not trying to blame you. I just noticed something outside has changed, but it isn’t good news…

“Changed? What did?”

-Myu?

He took out Onyx from his inventory and asked the administrator to elaborate.

-An irregular gate has occurred again in the Crow’s Nest. However, this time, it is an emissive type. Shin Eunah is currently engaged in a battle against unknown enemies to protect the students…I don’t think you can wait for outside help.

“So, that means…”

-You have no choice but to clear this gate alone.

“Ah…” He didn’t want to hear that, but that didn’t mean anything would change. It couldn’t be solved, so he decided to figure it out after breaking all of the eggs in this cavern.

Meanwhile, he didn’t notice Onyx approaching the fallen mantis.

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