Chapter 14. Black Route (3)

Swallow. Swallow.

Blood gushed out incessantly.

A large amount of blood flooded his mouth, but Yeonwoo tried to swallow as much of it as possible.

His throat felt as if it would be scorched by the toxins.

The stench was so intense that it made him want to vomit.

Still, Yeonwoo paid no heed and drank the blood. He chewed the heart muscle, which was tougher than leather, and swallowed it.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

The energy from the white moss he had consumed earlier stirred.

The pure essence gathered from the moon.

This was the most crucial catalyst needed to repel and fuse the fiery and turbid energies that the Red Monkey had accumulated over time.

And then.

Crack. Crack.

Yeonwoo's body began to change gradually.

Broken bones mended. Torn muscles healed. Flayed skin regrew.

No, it was more than just that.

The bones became much harder. The muscles became much tougher. The skin became much softer.

His constitution was gradually improving.

[You have successfully defeated the Red Monkey. You have faced an enemy that should have been impossible to defeat. Additional merit points are provided.]

[You have gained 100 merit points.]

[Your Strength has increased by 7.]

[Your Agility has increased by 6.]

[Your Vitality has increased by 5.]

[Your body is gradually changing.]

[The skill 'Physical Resistance' has significantly improved. 7.2%]

[You have consumed the heart of the Red Monkey. Combined with the white moss, it reveals hidden effects.]

[You have obtained a clue to 'Flame Heart, Frost Verse'.]

[Current progress: 1.5%]

[Current number of monsters hunted: 1]

It was a long time before Yeonwoo emerged from the Red Monkey's corpse.

Though he was drenched in bright red blood, he no longer looked exhausted.

"Huh."

Yeonwoo leaned against the wall and caught his breath.

His injuries were all healed, but the mental fatigue still lingered.

"At least I managed to hold on somehow."

The feeling of his body gradually changing due to the strange energy, though not new, was still unsettling.

Ironically, a sense of refreshment followed.

Yeonwoo glanced at the Red Monkey's corpse for a moment and spat out the remaining piece of heart in his mouth.

'What a terrifying place, filled with such creatures.'

Shaking his head, he felt a bit better seeing the messages that had appeared.

'I've got the Flame Heart and Frost Verse.'

These two were the effects that occurred when he consumed the white moss and the beast's heart simultaneously.

They were hidden pieces that enhanced his skeleton and muscles.

Although only 1.5% progress had been made, he already felt his body becoming more refreshed.

'They say that the faster the body hardens, the faster the fatigue is relieved. That's a relief.'

To more clearly confirm his changed physical condition, Yeonwoo called up his status screen.

[Player: Cha Yeonwoo]

Trait: Cold-Blooded

Strength: 60 Agility: 65 Vitality: 62 Mana: 21

Skills: Dragon Eye (3.1%). Enhanced Senses (17.8%). Time Prediction (0.0%). Physical Resistance (7.2%). Battle Will (3.2%).

'I didn't expect to gain so much more stats from defeating one Red Monkey than from passing through the boss room.'

Yeonwoo let out a hollow laugh, finding it absurd even to himself.

However, it was natural that players would be given more stats as they overcame difficult adversities, and the Black Route was that much more dangerous.

Still, one thing was certain.

His body was steadily changing.

Most of his stats were already over 60.

'Although my low mana is a bit of a flaw, there's nothing I can do about it for now.'

Yeonwoo frowned at his mana stat, which was once the highest but was now the lowest.

Although he couldn't use mana for the time being, it was still concerning that there was such a gap between his other stats.

'I need to find a way to sense mana quickly.'

Thanks to Yul, he had a clear understanding of the concept of mana. So, all he needed to do was devise a way to sense it.

'Method. Method.'

Actually, unlike his genius younger brother, Yeonwoo was a thorough hard worker.

He had always been that way since he was young.

Unlike his younger brother, who could do anything easily, Yeonwoo repeatedly put in effort behind the scenes and often pretended to be fine on the surface.

When he was deployed to Africa, he was initially as weak as a torturer but later became a special forces representative of his unit.

Yeonwoo was familiar with pushing himself to his limits.

He grew by repeatedly colliding with the wall until it broke.

And when a new wall appeared, he would collide with it until it broke again.

This time was no different.

Yeonwoo was aware that among the many players who participated in the tutorial, he was the most behind.

That was why he only walked through dangerous areas, which allowed him to grow significantly each time.

Lacking talent, he had to grasp the key through several experiences and then find a method that suited him.

It seemed the same would be true for mana.

He needed to keep colliding with it to find the key to handling mana and master its usage.

The problem was that he had no way to approach the key.

If this continued, his mana stat would become a useless entry in his status screen.

But he couldn't let it be that way.

'For now, I can rely on skills, but in the future, I'll need to use mana more and more. The more I advance, the more important it will become.'

Mana allows you to do things that are impossible with physical abilities.

It is the power that makes the mysterious or supernatural possible.

The tower is filled with extraordinary events, so he couldn't give up such power.

Most importantly.

Yeonwoo's inheritance was not yet complete.

The Dragon Body.

Or the Dragon Bone Body, as it is called.

To fully accept this power, which originated from the ancient dragon Kalathus, mana was essential.

Dragons were known as the supreme race, the progenitors of all mana and the supernatural.

'Let's just wait a bit more. There's no point in worrying about it right now, as it won't lead to a solution.'

For now, he needed to take care of what he could and then address the issue of mana.

If he couldn't find a solution no matter how much he thought about it, there was a shortcut he could use.

'There are many players who can actually cast magic. If there's no other way, I'll have to capture one of them and extract the method.'

Harming an unrelated person was not his style.

But he couldn't just stand by and do nothing, so he had no choice.

Yeonwoo put aside his thoughts on mana and mana points and focused on the two new skills he had obtained.

[Physical Resistance]

Level: E-

Proficiency: 7.2%

Increases resistance to physical attacks. In some cases, it provides high resistance to various status effects.

[Battle Will]

Level: D+

Proficiency: 3.2%

Burns the will to fight with endurance and indomitable spirit in any situation. During combat, it accelerates thought processes, enabling multiple judgments.

'Level?'

Yeonwoo's eyes widened at the new addition, then he nodded.

It seemed that as his abilities became stronger, things that were previously hidden were now revealed.

The level reflects the power of the skill.

The higher the level, the better the effect, and the less mana or mental energy it consumes.

There were two ways to adjust the level:

1. Gain insight and apply it to the skill, earning the recognition of the interface system.

2. Fill the proficiency to increase the level.

The levels assigned to the two skills were not bad.

In fact, the level of Battle Will was very good.

'A D+ is hard to get in the tutorial.'

Yeonwoo smiled contentedly and organized the details of the two skills.

'Physical Resistance has a significant effect on external impacts. It minimizes shock and alleviates pain.'

This was a skill that Yeonwoo, who primarily engaged in close combat, absolutely needed.

Throughout his training, he had to endure terrible pain multiple times.

Although he used his Cold-Blooded trait to maintain his consciousness, continuous pain inevitably led to mental fatigue.

With this skill, he could avoid such situations.

'High resistance to status effects is also good.'

Poison, burns, frostbite, panic (stun), hallucinations, curses—these are the biggest obstacles in any strategy.

If this skill could help avoid them, it would provide multiple advantages.

Physical Resistance was satisfying for Yeonwoo in many ways.

It wasn't a major skill, but it was a perfect complement to his fighting style.

However, what Yeonwoo liked even more than Physical Resistance was Battle Will.

'The ability to accelerate thought processes. This is the most important part.'

In tense situations, quick judgment can be a key to saving allies, but it can also lead to their annihilation.

Therefore, judgment had to be cautious, and the accompanying thoughts had to be complex.

But a skill that made this possible.

He had already experienced its effects while defeating the Red Monkey.

In the slowed time.

When the Red Monkey's pincers were about to reach him.

The quick judgment made possible by his accelerated thought process led to his victory.

'The ability to make calm judgments is the biggest advantage. Plus, it can be used in other ways.'

The benefits of Battle Will didn't end there.

Because it required extreme concentration, it greatly enhanced Enhanced Senses and Dragon Eye.

It allowed for more detailed and precise perception, making it efficient to detect things that were previously missed.

Yeonwoo closed his eyes, thinking he would try using Battle Will again.

Enhanced Senses was already being used as a passive skill.

Currently, Yeonwoo could detect an area of about 10 to 15 meters in front of him.

The moment he added Battle Will.

-^#$$#$%^$#!##*!!!

"…!"

Yeonwoo almost screamed from the overwhelming amount of information flooding his mind.

And the sudden dizziness and nausea.

"What is this?"

Yeonwoo, with extreme patience, managed to suppress the nausea, but his mind was numb.

The effect was beyond what he had imagined.

He saw, heard, smelled, felt, and tasted too much.

There should have been limits, but it felt as if the restriction had been removed, and too much information was pouring in, making it impossible to distinguish what was what.

His vision blurred, sounds turned into noise, and his sense of smell felt like it was piercing his skin.

Feeling as if his brain would burn, he quickly deactivated the skill.

Could he even make choices from such a vast amount of information?

'This is not easy at all.'

Yeonwoo grimaced and wiped the cold sweat from his chin.

But he couldn't just give up here.

For a moment, he had definitely felt as if his body was floating due to the combination of the two skills.

And in that process, he had felt a lot.

With the potential for growth right in front of him, there was no reason to hesitate.

'Let's try again.'

Yeonwoo closed his eyes once more and activated Battle Will and Enhanced Senses simultaneously. His face contorted in pain as if his brain was about to burn.

Yeonwoo also activated Physical Resistance to endure the throbbing headache while descending the dungeon's corridor.