Chapter 47

< Sometimes You Get Stronger (2) >

Kim Woo-jae moved restlessly.

‘Why hasn’t Seo Min-seong contacted me?’

They were supposed to send a signal every 20 minutes to confirm everything was fine. But the signal that should have come five minutes ago didn’t arrive.

Could he have been caught already?

‘Damn, I need to get the Mark of Ownership.’

The reason Kim Woo-jae had deliberately woken and intimidated Han Yu-jin was for the taming item, the Mark of Ownership, of the Flame Horned Lion cub. If Han Yu-jin boarded the ship with the Mark still in his inventory, it would be impossible to touch it. But if he took it out in advance, he could make a substantial profit from it.

It’s an S-grade dungeon boss monster’s cub. Even if he handed it over as is, he could get a bonus, but if he removed the taming mark, he could sell it for a much higher price. It was too valuable to overlook.

‘If I threaten to leave him under the curse for another hour, pretending there’s no time, …’

Would he hand it over willingly? Despite his aggressive demeanor, Han Yu-jin was essentially a regular person with almost no dungeon experience. He was surely in a daze from the first curse he encountered.

Bang!

“Did you have a good time!”

Kim Woo-jae deliberately shouted loudly as he flung open the door. He saw Han Yu-jin huddled and collapsed against the wall. Despite hearing the noise, he didn’t move.

It’s a curse that doesn’t cause unconsciousness. Has he completely lost his strength?

Kim Woo-jae approached Han Yu-jin without much thought and nudged his hunched back with his foot.

“I know you’re awake-.”

Right then,

Whoosh!

“Ugh!”

A black tentacle shot out and wrapped around Kim Woo-jae’s ankle. The poison seeping through his sock made Kim Woo-jae panic, and he pulled his leg back with all his might.

Snap!

The tentacle broke, and Kim Woo-jae staggered. As he quickly turned around, he saw the massive reptile shaking its tentacle.

“It was supposed to be on a leash!”

-Grrr!

Crecas lunged at Kim Woo-jae, his body thrashing. The chain that should have been attached to the leash was seen rolling far away.

The poisonous aura rushing towards him made Kim Woo-jae frantically pull out a shield from his inventory. Just then,

Crack!

“Gah!”

A knife pierced Kim Woo-jae’s ankle. It hit the exact spot weakened by the poison. At the same time, Crecas rammed into the shield.

“Ugh!”

Despite the unexpected attack, Kim Woo-jae, an experienced B-grade Hunter, rolled to the side to create distance instead of falling helplessly.

“Damn you!”

Kim Woo-jae shouted, his neck veins bulging.

He noticed Han Yu-jin moving. But he never expected a stat F-grade with no attack skills and a sealed inventory to attack.

“So what if it’s just a C-grade dungeon monster!”

He did take quite a hit, but with a C-grade and stat F-grade combination, he wouldn’t lose even if one of his legs was cut off.

Kim Woo-jae drew a greatsword. The skill activated, and the thick black skin split instantly under the blade.

-Grrr

With a weak groan, the black reptile’s body slumped. Kim Woo-jae, breathing heavily with anger, turned to look at the dazed Han Yu-jin.

If he followed his temper, he would have torn the kid apart, but he put the weapon back in his inventory.

“Damn, this kid! You only think you can just raise a tamed cub-.”

Just as he growled,

“Cough!”

Intense pain spread throughout Kim Woo-jae’s body, and he fell forward.

-Grrr

The black creature convulsed in its final throes.

He had hoped for a different outcome, but it ended up like this.

Then,

[The effect of the title 'Perfect Caretaker' is activated.

Caretaker Additional Skill: Final Revenge

The skills and stats of the monster 'Blackie' are transferred with double efficiency.

Duration: 168:00]

A message window appeared, announcing the skill activation. Followed by:

[Final Revenge (L) skill effect is doubled.]

A message window also appeared, indicating the activation of the skill that is the nemesis of Lauchitas. Before he could read it properly, Blackie’s memories were transmitted to him.

The memories were the same as the last farewell, related to me.

A mere 30 minutes, a very short memory.

Blackie was afraid of me, curious, and happy to eat the C-grade magic stone powder for the first time.

He liked the sound of my voice telling him I loved him, and thought my touch was warm. Instinctively, he felt he couldn’t defeat Kim Woo-jae, but he wanted to protect me.

He worried about me until the end.

Honestly, it’s better not to have this skill.

“...Sorry, Blackie.”

Muttering a meaningless apology, he opened the status window. The stats had clearly increased, and new skills were visible.

“Damn, this kid! You only think you can just raise a tamed cub-.”

He used the Thorn Trap on the contorted Kim Woo-jae, who was writhing on the ground.

“Cough!”

With a choked sound, the guy convulsed on the floor.

Thorn Trap (D). A curse skill that restrains and causes pain to the opponent. However, it doesn’t work if the opponent’s mental stat is two levels higher than the skill level.

Originally, it would be useless against a B-grade like Kim Woo-jae, but with the double and double buff, it should be at a B-grade skill level.

‘The amount of transferred memories is too small, so it will take some time to adapt.’

The more memories the opponent has of you, the faster the adaptation of the transferred stats and skills. In the case of Yu-hyun, he could use them as if he were the original.

At least, with the double mental stat buff, a lot of information came over in 30 minutes.

Closing the status window, he shifted his gaze to the long, black body.

“...This skill is not so great.”

Sighing, he approached Blackie. The skin under his palm felt colder, perhaps due to the mood.

Thanks to the double mental stat buff, it was a bearable skill, but even with the double and double buff, it still felt unpleasant.

‘Our Blackie... had a low mental stat.’

At least the Final Revenge lasts for 7 days, which is fortunate. The Last Farewell only lasts for an hour, so he had spent a few days in a drunken stupor before.

He stood up and approached the stiff, convulsing Kim Woo-jae. The guy was still glaring at him, rolling his eyes.

“There’s no real reason to keep you alive, is there?”

Most importantly, to keep the Final Revenge skill a secret, he needed to silence him. He could make him sign a contract to keep quiet, but was it really necessary?

“Ah, my ankle hurts.”

Thanks to the increased stats, he could still walk, but it did hurt. Grumbling, he opened the status window again to check the skills he received from Blackie.

[Thorn Trap (D) - A curse that paralyzes and causes pain

Duration: 1 hour]

[Viscous Poison (C) - A powerful poison that seeps through the skin]

[Wall Lizard (D) - Blends into the environment to hide]

[Scratch (D) - A powerful claw attack]

[Extending Tentacle (C) - A tentacle that extends and contains poison

Maximum length: 1 meter]

[Premonition of the Weak (C) - Detects stronger opponents]

Skin poison, scratch, tentacle... The first two are fine, but the tentacle, can I use it? Originally, it’s a skill that extends the tentacles on the back and swings them.

I do have parts on my body that can extend, but... If the maximum length is 1 meter, then four times that is 4 meters, ...

...I’m curious.

‘...Should I try it a little?’

Just a little. Extending Tentacle.

“...”

As he used the skill, a tentacle emerged from his wrist. It had a different, dark color from his skin, making it look like a parasite had attached itself.

A 4-meter-long poisonous tentacle would be useful, but it felt physically repulsive to use.

‘If the most powerful skill is the Viscous Poison, then that’s it.’

A C-grade poison with a fourfold buff. Even a decent A-grade would find it hard to resist. Without equipment that resists poison, it could even poison an S-grade. Of course, an S-grade or even an A-grade would have basic poison and curse resistance equipment.

“Mr. Kim Woo-jae. I’m going to look for my pet, so stay here nicely.”

He was going to kill him immediately, but decided to keep him alive in case he couldn’t find Peace. According to the information, a B-grade would be obedient for 30 minutes, so with a fourfold effect, even a B-grade would be compliant.

He searched the guy’s body and found the key to the inventory sealing bracelet. He removed the bracelet from his wrist and put it on the guy’s wrist. Then he took off the guy’s gloves and put them on his own hands to avoid leaving fingerprints.

“Have a good time.”

He threw a greeting and went outside, locking the door.

How many people are in this building? It’s a pity that the Premonition of the Weak only detects strong opponents. The original detection radius is short, but now it’s quite wide, meaning he wouldn’t be surprised by an A-grade or higher.

There’s no way an A-grade would be in such a place.

‘Even if there is an A-grade, I can probably handle it with the Wall Lizard and poison attack.’

My current stats are between A-grade and B-grade at level 50. B-grades are easy, but A-grades are a bit tricky. Still, with the good skills...

Crack!

“Ouch.”

He broke the doorknob while trying to open the door. He needed to adapt quickly, or the increased stats would be noticed.

‘I have to hide for 7 days.’

Fortunately, there’s no status window in Hae-yeon. I might stay in my room for a week, claiming it’s due to the aftereffects of the kidnapping. Using the Wall Lizard skill weakly to blur my presence should be fine, but the duration is too long.

‘What excuse can I give if I’m found out?’

If I say a passing Hunter saved me and gave me a huge buff, even a passing dog wouldn’t believe it. There’s no proper excuse. I’ll just have to insist it’s a misunderstanding, I’m weak!

‘Found it.’

Not Peace, but the presence of gathered people. The Premonition of the Weak skill indicates they are all below B-grade.

‘Wall Lizard.’

Originally, it only provides camouflage. But with the fourfold effect, they won’t be able to detect me easily.

I shouldn’t be seen unless I kill everyone I encounter.

I quietly approached the place where the presence was felt. Fortunately, the door was half open.

“Can we really get out safely?”

A familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

‘It’s the D-grade I kicked away.’

Peering through the gap, I saw the four people I had seen in the training room, except for the one C-grade.

Without hesitation, I used the Thorn Trap.

“Ugh!”

“What- Gah!”

The guys fell like dominoes. They trembled and soon rolled their eyes, probably due to their low stats.

‘It’s really good to have attack skills.’

If only one of my L-grade skills was offensive or defensive.

I cautiously flipped the bodies on the ground to check the room. Monitors were lined up on one wall, displaying images from surveillance cameras.

There were no cameras in the entrance, stairs, or part of the corridor. I pulled out all the wires and took the bunch of keys hanging on the wall, then went back outside.

When I reached the first floor, I finally saw the cage where Peace was kept.

‘Peace!’

I couldn’t shout, but I approached the cage, checking the surroundings. The red-furred body was rising and falling regularly. It seemed he wasn’t injured and was still asleep.

‘There were no aftereffects from the Guardian’s Fruit powder.’

The extremely expensive powder was mainly used to capture monsters. It only worked on C-grades and below, so it wasn’t cost-effective for dungeon exploration. Of course, it worked on humans too, and I had fallen asleep while helping to capture monsters.

‘It seems the key isn’t here.’

It’s strange to keep it with the cage. None of the keys I brought fit. I could break the cage, but I was worried about controlling my strength. Melting it with poison might also hurt the defenseless, sleeping Peace. It’s better to find the key.

“Wait a little longer.”

I’ll be right back.

I can’t tear the place apart just to find a small key. I considered going back to the basement to interrogate the fallen guys but decided to go upstairs first to eliminate any potential threats.

Fortunately, the building was only two stories, and there was only one presence on the second floor. It was probably the last remaining C-grade.

‘There are fewer people than expected for a large guild.’

It seems only a few people were involved in this. Considering the security and the need to leave Korea, they probably only gathered the minimum number of trusted people.

‘The guild leader is probably a B-grade, and the C-grade is a deputy leader.’

As a deputy leader, he would know where the key is.

Staring at the closed door,

Bang!

I kicked it open.

“Who, who is it!”

Who else.

“I’m the victim you kidnapped.”

< Sometimes You Get Stronger (2) > End

ⓒ Geunseo