Chapter 93

"Phew."

After stepping out of the castle, Carpe calmed his pounding heart.

When Gillian casually handed him the Advanced Skill Pack, he was so surprised that he almost hugged Sir Inspiration right there.

-Well, this is a first. I've never seen a route to get an Advanced Skill Pack before level 50.

It was usually something you could only see after the second half of your second class change or after completing your third class change.

"Ugh. As expected of a god game. But this time, you're being unusually quiet? Usually, you'd be shouting, 'Is this a game? You guys aren't running it properly!'"

-Well... it's just a Skill Pack, after all. Even if I open it, it'll probably just be 44444, and if I'm lucky, maybe one 5-star. There's no reason to get excited.

"Tsk. You've been playing for over 10 years, and you still don't understand the game. This is at least a 7-star, and from my feeling, it could even be an 8-star."

-Really? Your luck isn't that ordinary, is it? Getting this one out of so many 4-star skills?

"That's what I'm saying. Let's proceed with the skill pack opening."

Carpe then started with the 'Beginner Skill Pack' he received for reaching level 45.

Pfft!

As he tore open the Skill Pack, five cards floated into the air.

It was a familiar sight, but it still made his heart race.

Carpe carefully opened the card on the far left.

"Please. Just one 7-star here. And one 8-star in the next pack."

-Hmm. You're really lowering your standards, aren't you? Who hopes for the best in both packs?!

"Exactly. Just please!"

The first card of the grand opening was a 3-star attack skill. It was an archer skill, so he immediately filtered it out.

Swish! Swish!

The cards he opened one by one through the repeat skill.

He opened all five cards, but unfortunately, none of them triggered the card effect. The best he got was a 4-star.

But it wasn't entirely fruitless.

[You have obtained a 4-star Skill Card – 'Wind Cutter'.]

[You already possess this skill. Do you want to enhance it?]

"Wow, this came up again."

-Huh. Your luck is really something. Out of all the 4-star skills, this one?

"That's what I'm saying. Let's enhance the skill."

[Congratulations! You have successfully enhanced Wind Cutter to +2.]

[The +2 enhancement effect allows the 'Bleed' status to be inflicted on 'Bleed Immune' monsters.]

"Oh? Ignore Bleed Immunity? So now it can deal bleed damage to Golems and Undead? The enhancement bonus is pretty good."

-Of course. The probability of getting the same skill is so low that you have to get some compensation.

"This is enough for a Beginner Pack. Let's move on to the next one while the momentum is still going!"

Carpe immediately opened the Advanced Pack. Once again, five cards floated into the air.

"Phew. Good."

As he moved from the Beginner Pack to the real game, the tension seemed to increase fivefold.

-...You must find this world really interesting. Everything is so tense and thrilling.

"What are you talking about? Who wouldn't be tense in this situation?"

-Even a student taking the college entrance exam wouldn't be this tense.

"Ah, thinking about it, I should have gotten a complete miss in the Beginner Pack."

The perfect product of scientific reasoning.

He should have done a 'liquid sacrifice'!

"Tsk. Without the liquid sacrifice, getting an 8-star is going to be tough. Let's aim for a 7-star."

-You're bad at math, and now you're bad at Korean too. Compromise isn't the word to use here, you lunatic!

"Then I'll go without compromising! Come on, 8-star!"

He opened the first card of the Advanced Pack.

An unexpected twist appeared right from the start.

[4-star Skill Card – 'Wind Cutter']

"…What? This again? Is this rigged?"

Even if it wasn't Carpe, anyone would have suspected rigging at this point.

"Is this... the will of the gods to enhance it to +3...?"

-I've only managed to do a +3 skill enhancement twice in 10 years.

"Really? Does a +3 enhancement give something powerful?"

-It does, but... it's a 4-star skill, so it's a bit awkward. If it were a 5-star skill, I'd go for a +3 without hesitation.

Since it's a 4-star, even with a +3 enhancement, it would only be on par with a 6-star skill without any enhancements.

"Hmm. Let's check the other four cards first, then decide."

Carpe immediately started opening the four cards in sequence.

The second card. 4-star.

The third card. 4-star.

The fourth card. 4-star...

"Are you kidding me? This is definitely rigged!"

-Not really. The rigged part was what you've been getting so far. This is actually normal.

"No way. My Lase wouldn't do this... wouldn't do this..."

-Haha. The great Carpe, why are you so talkative? Aren't you going to open the next card?

"Please... please..."

Carpe opened the last card with all his hopes and dreams.

Pfft!

The skill effect exploded!

"Ah! It came up!"

-...It did come up. But we were both wrong.

The effect that appeared was a bright silver!

It was the effect indicating a 6-star skill.

"Phew. Where are we?"

The initial bold promise to get an 8-star was long gone.

Even if it didn't end in 44444, he should be grateful.

As Carpe touched the card, the silver card revealed its true identity.

"Ah."

Tina, who had been silent until now, took a deep breath.

[6-star Skill Card – 'Charge']

Finally, the one he had been wishing for appeared.

"Ma, Master...!"

"Tina. Calm down. You're going to bite your tongue."

"I am calm. A knight must maintain a clear and composed mind in any situation..."

Her flushed face, however, made her words completely unconvincing.

"Hmm."

After a brief moment of thought.

[Congratulations! You have obtained a 6-star Skill Card – 'Charge' from the Advanced Skill Pack!]

There was an option to enhance Wind Cutter to +3, but Carpe ultimately chose Charge.

...Based on Carpe's gut feeling, he thought he would see Wind Cutter endlessly in the future.

"An excellent decision, Master."

Tina, who was always calm, stuttered several times.

What did Charge mean to her...

[The loyal Tistania of Radiance meets the acquisition conditions.]

[Do you want to acquire the 6-star skill – 'Charge'?]

"Let's do it."

[Tistania of Radiance has acquired the 'Charge' skill, consuming 1 skill point!]

"I will repay your kindness with my service."

"Good. I look forward to working with you."

"Leave it to me. No enemy that stands in your way will survive."

Tina, excited and raising her sword, was just adorable.

Even though her affection was already at the maximum, if there were no limits, the affection increase messages would have appeared endlessly.

-Now that the skills are all set, let's start the quest.

"Right. The White Nightmare and the Black Plague, right?"

-Right. More accurately, the White Tiger and the Elder Snake.

"But how do you know their identities, even though this is your first time doing the Demon King quest?"

-You don't have to meet them only through the Demon King quest. Remember, I told you I stayed in Lamarque for a long time in the past?

In the past, the Demon had tirelessly worked to uncover hidden quests in the weakest country on the continent.

After extensive research and effort, he discovered a legend about Lamarque and, by following the clues, was able to uncover the identities of the 'White Nightmare' and the 'Black Plague'.

-Well, I did manage to defeat them back then, but the rewards for hidden bosses were just average. I didn't expect them to be related to the Demon King.

"Ugh. You've already experienced everything I need to do."

-Yeah. You just need to follow along.

"Blood of the Demon! Anger of the Ten Thousand Demons!"

"Meow! Meow!"

"Alright, we've praised. Let's head out. Where should we start?"

-Let's start with the Black Nightmare. When you defeat the Elder Snake, you'll get an item to defeat the White Tiger. The quests are interconnected.

"Ah, I see."

Carpe nodded, and the Demon chuckled.

-When I mentioned the 12 Trials, I felt that these quests are probably inspired by the 12 Labors of Heracles.

The White Tiger is like the Nemean Lion, and the Elder Snake is like the Hydra.

-Probably the other trials are similar. It's fortunate that they're only three. Some of the 12 Labors of Heracles take a lot of time.

"…I can't get used to how knowledgeable you are."

-You'll get used to it. Let's go. Oh, right. We need to stop by the general store first.

"General store? What for?"

-To find the Elder Snake, we need to defeat a prerequisite monster. And that prerequisite monster is also a hidden boss.

The item they needed to buy from the general store was to summon the prerequisite monster.

When Carpe arrived at the general store, he couldn't help but question the item the Demon told him to buy.

"…This is the item to summon a hidden boss?"

-Yeah. Doesn't look like it, does it?

"To be honest, it does. It's just a plain... box."

-You'll see. Let's go.

* * *

Near Lamarque, there was a hunting ground called Miaoling (Cat Forest).

As the name suggests, it was a forest where cats appeared, and the cat monsters were so similar to real cats that it was very popular.

"Wow, they're so cute."

"Ah... How can they expect us to hunt these?"

For cat lovers, it was a must-visit spot in Lamarque!

But despite their cute appearance, these cat monsters were incredibly strong.

They were small and quick, making it hard to hit them, but their attack power was enormous. If you let your guard down because of their appearance, you'd end up staring at a gray screen.

It was common knowledge that there was no boss monster in the famous Miaoling.

-Actually, there's a hidden boss. Remember the first day in Lamarque? When I threw an acorn, a giant squirrel came down from the tree.

"Ah, of course I remember."

-It's similar to that. There's a hidden boss that reacts to specific objects. Take out the item you bought from the general store.

Carpe then took out a huge, empty box, about 3 meters in size, from his inventory.

-Just open the top and throw it somewhere.

"Got it."

After Carpe set up the box, not long after...

"Roar!"

[A hidden monster in Miaoling, 'Great Tiger,' has appeared!]

A giant tiger slowly walked out from somewhere in the forest.

Swish!

It immediately entered the box and curled up inside.

"…Wow."

-Cats are always caught by empty box traps! Go, catch it!

The 10-star player, now strengthened by luck,