Max Talent Player

The two of them entered the Centipede Cave. Before going in, Hyukjin checked his notes one more time.

––Plum Blossom Island’s Centipede Cave. Entrance to a cave inhabited by centipedes. Having no entrance condition is its distinct characteristic, also has various entrances. Inhabited by a large number of Pearl Centipedes. A gate known to be nearly impossible to clear without a fire magician.

In truth, that was just superficial information. Hyukjin believed there were several secrets he hadn’t yet unearthed hidden in the Centipede Cave.

‘That day, I saw the Demon King.’

He thought back to that day when the Demon King suddenly showed up and grabbed him by the neck.

“If I allow you to live here, what can you do for me?”

Back then, Hyukjin responded that he would become strong.

“Strong enough to make you, the person reigning as the strong one right now, kneel.”

“Or strong enough to become a fierce blade you can trust.”

That was met by the following words from the Demon King:

“Become stronger.”

“If you can get out of here alive, that is.”

It was possible… that the Demon King’s arrangements for him began from that day onward.

‘And this is where I first met Predator Trees.’

He also rechecked his info about Predator Trees.

–Predator Tree. Has a habit of ambushing Pearl Centipede habitats and nesting there. Likes places with good ventilation. Level around 40, is capable of eating a Great Orc Warrior alive, and has extremely high defense, making it almost impossible for a Player of the same level to solo it.

–The Predator Tree makes a strange ‘gghhh’ sound as it moves.

He remembered one other thing.

‘Darongi pilfered the Demon King’s Inventory in the Centipede Cave.’

To be more precise, it wasn’t that Darongi stole, but that the Demon King allowed himself to be stolen from. The stolen item was none other than a Fusestone.

‘And I was able to graft this skill into my body using that Fusestone.’

[Absorption Ring]

Absorbs all physical damage for 0.5 seconds. Only applies when the attacker dealing the physical damage is under level 50. The absorbed damage will be converted to HP, and the item will be destroyed.

An ability that could be called Hyukjin’s extra life.

It occurred to Hyukjin that all these factors might have been a part of someone’s plan.

‘Absorption. I’ll act with this ability in mind.’

Sung-gu’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“What are you thinking about for so long?”

“Ah. I was thinking about when we came here in the past.”

“We nearly died back then. I frickin’ hate Predator Trees, man. About what level are those things again?”

“Around 40.”

“We should be able to catch ‘em easy then, no?”

Predator Trees were weak to fire attacks. Choi Sung-gu was currently level 39, very nearly through the level 30-40 Hell Phase.

“Well, it’d be nice if it were less dangerous than back then, but…” Choi Sung-gu shot Hyukjin a sideways glance. “As long as you’re involved, I doubt that’ll happen. You’re like Conan, bringing danger with you wherever you go.”

Several Pearl Centipedes appeared.

“Fire Wall.”

Fire Wall, a fairly easy spell to cast, was originally supposed to be a defensive spell that created a flame barrier. However, it was also very effective against insect monsters.

[Pearl Centipede has been killed.]

It was day and night from the past. Choi Sung-gu killed the Pearl Centipedes without much difficulty, and the insects failed to make them feel any sense of danger.

As a result, Sung-gu found himself growing suspicious. What was going on? Why were things so easy, even though Hyukjin was here? How come the big boys weren’t coming out?

“What’s the catch?”

“It’s not really a catch, but…” Hyukjin said. “I met someone special here.”

“Someone special?”

Choi Sung-gu hadn’t been with him, and the fire magician hadn’t met the Demon King. As Sung-gu tilted his head, Hyukjin continued.

“He did me a favor here.”

“Seriously? There’s someone out there who can do you favors? Is he stronger than you?”

“I don’t know how strong he is.”

The Demon King was so very far ahead. Hyukjin could not gauge his strength. He wasn’t even sure the man was a Player.

“In any case, I got an item here, and that item allowed me to get the Absorption ability.”

“And?” Sung-gu quibbled with some displeasure. Why was Hyukjin going about the explanation in such a roundabout manner? He fired off another spell.

“Fire Wall.”

A Pearl Centipede burned to a crisp in a burst of crackles. The dark, moist cave filled with the smell of burnt insect.

Gghhhh–

With that quiet groan came a faint tremor, carried from afar by the wind.

“Fire Arrow.”

Sung-gu fired several fire arrows, aiming at the Predator Tree. The Predator Tree was still too far to be seen, but Sung-gu’s arrows met their mark.

Ggghhhg–!

The other Predator Trees began to approach them.

“Let’s talk after killing these guys first,” murmured Hyukjin, pulling out the sleeping Isabel.

“Oi. Not gonna use that fire bow? One shot of that would clear these buggers right out.”

“That takes too much mana.”

“Then what? You’re gonna kill those things with your blade? Type wise, you’d be at a disadvantage with a swo—” Choi Sung-gu shook his head, swallowing his next words. “Ah, right. Sure, sure.”

He had briefly forgotten who he was talking to. This guy claimed he was level 39, but he was actually way stronger than that. From what Hyukjin said, he received markedly more random stats than other Players, and that was a special perk for sovereigns, or something like that. But to be honest, Choi Sung-gu thought that was a whole load of BS. What kind of sovereign was this?

Schwing–!

Every time Isabel left a silver flash in the air—

[Predator Tree has been killed.]

—a Predator Tree perished.

‘Right, that’s not a sovereign.’

In any case, Kim Hyukjin acquired a lot of random stats because he was a sovereign, and as a result, he was at least as strong as a regular class Player in their late level 40s. That was Choi Sung-gu’s take.

A Predator Tree approached Hyukjin from behind, its mouth wide open.

“Flame Whip.”

Hyukjin was aware of the monster as well, but he didn’t react. That was because he trusted Choi Sung-gu. The fire magician’s Flame Whip reduced the Predator Tree to ashes.

It took less than five minutes to dispatch the swarm of eleven Predator Trees that had suddenly appeared, meaning each one had taken only about thirty seconds.

“Iyaa. We’ve gotten real strong. Level is king,” Sung-gu chortled. Then, glancing at Hyukjin, he said, “But not for you.”

Killing Predator Trees with a blade was wild enough, but the wielder of that blade being a sovereign was another level of crazy. It didn’t faze Sung-gu anymore.

“So, what were you about to say earlier? What was that about Absorption?”

“I got Absorption here.”

Kim Hyukjin wasn’t at all out of breath. Despite moving his body far more energetically than Choi Sung-gu, he wasn’t tired in the least—he had fought while considering his stamina, feeling as though he was taking a walk in his neighborhood.

“Dude, why do you keep trying to make me feel all uneasy? What about Absorption?”

“You know this is an ability that converts all damage taken over 0.5 seconds into HP, right?”

“...Yeah, I know that, but what about it?”

Unease continued to burgeon within him. What was Hyukjin going to say?

“It’s possible… that I’ll need to make full use of this ability today.”

Just like getting the Night of Shooting Stars’ personal sponsorship, getting a tome item was normally difficult, except in truly exceptional cases. Even Choi Sung-gu was only able to get the Tome of the Divine Fire Physique thanks to the wholehearted sponsorship of the Giant of the Sunset.

“Because we’re not able to receive the Guardians’ sponsorships right now.”

Their Playing was being recorded—but not streamed live—at Hyukjin’s request. They couldn’t hope for the Guardians’ support. The two of them had to push through it on their own.

“But c’mon, what about that?” Choi Sung-gu scowled. “You can’t be saying there’s a crisis lurking around so dangerous we’ll die if you can’t use that ability at the right time, the right way, right…?”

Fuck. Surely not, right? He wanted to ask, but he didn’t, shivering instead.

“You serious, bro…?”

He had just witnessed Kim Hyukjin’s martial might in person. The man had chopped down Predator Trees with a sword despite the type disadvantage. What’s more, the Predator Trees were one level higher. Sung-gu was confident he had a better grasp of Kim Hyukjin’s strength than anyone.

It was possible they would find themselves in a situation where Hyukjin would have to rely on a 0.5 second ability—0.5 seconds!—like Absorption?

“Hyukjin. I’m not gonna die, am I?”

There was one reason Hyukjin was telling him this in advance. It was a warning to be careful, to stay bright-eyed and on his toes, since there was no knowing what kind of danger would go for their throats within 0.5 seconds.

“I can’t just wait here, can I?”

“Alone? I don’t know what might be here, either.”

“Fuck.” Sung-gu shivered again. “You brought me here knowing all this, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Mind if I kill you?”

“If you can.”

“FUCK!”

Sung-gu felt terribly wronged. He said something Vela would say.

“If I was good at fighting, I would’ve beaten you up.”

“I hope you’ll be able to one day.”

“...” Sung-gu’s shoulders slumped. “So? What do I need to do?”

“Hm. For now, let’s explore this place.”

Hyukjin strode forward, following the path to the Tome of the Divine Sword Physique in his mind.

* * *

* * *

‘Pearl Centipede. Predator Tree.’

They didn’t see much else. They continued exploring the moist, dark cave over quite a long period of time. After going through several forked paths, they reached a huge chamber.

Hyukjin stared ahead.

‘Something’s there.’

When they walked forward a little more, a thud rang out. Stone walls were blocking all of the entrances leading into the large, circular chamber.

“Fuck, that scared me.” Sung-gu looked around. “We’re trapped.”

“Yeah.”

They were trapped. There was a stone statue of considerable size, about seven meters, in the center of the chamber.

“Eurgh, gross. I frickin’ hate bugs. Ugh, that’s one big fuckin’ centipede.” Sung-gu really did have goosebumps on his arms. “Ugh, I’m scared af.”

It was an insect statue. Upon closer inspection, it looked like an enlarged version of a Pearl Centipede. And it was so realistic that it looked like a living being turned to stone rather than a likeness carved from a block of stone.

A notice came in.

[You have discovered the special boss monster ‘Black Pearl Centipede’.]

[Only someone with a special qualification is capable of waking the Black Pearl Centipede from its slumber.]

Black Pearl Centipede.

It was a monster Hyukjin had never heard of before, one that wasn’t recorded in the monster encyclopedia or Playpedia ten years from now. That meant it was true that this thing was a ‘special boss monster’.

Choi Sung-gu found the next notices absolutely terrifying.

[If someone without the special qualification wakes the Black Pearl Centipede, you will not be able to leave this place.]

[This is an absolute of the System and cannot be overridden with the use of items or authorities.]

All the exits were sealed off.

[Those without the special qualification can forfeit the current scenario.]

[If the current scenario is forfeited, the scenario will not reoccur.]

It was a one-time chance. But they didn’t know what the ‘special qualification’ was. If they couldn’t fulfill it, they would be trapped here forever by virtue of the System’s absolute law.

Choi Sung-gu turned to Hyukjin.

“Hey, Hyukjin. Fuck. Isn’t this too dangerous? This is a real gamble, man!”

Charging forward when they didn’t know what the special qualification was could lead them straight into their graves.

“Hey. I’ve always had dogshit luck.” After saying that, the fire magician sighed. “But if you were gonna give up here, you wouldn’t have brought me all this way, huh?”

“You can go back if you want.”

Hyukjin had no intention of denying Choi Sung-gu a choice. The reason he brought Sung-gu here was to recreate as similar a situation as before, thinking that the two Centipede Caves were linked in some way.

“Fuck. That’s such a sad thing to say, man,” Sung-gu said, his teeth chattering. “We’re friends, you know?”

“...”

“Ugh, fuck. I’m fucking scared. From now on, I’m not gonna tag along ever again. I’m gonna live a long and safe time, eating ‘til I burst my entire life!”

Anyway, both of them decided to clear this place, and as a result, they were told the ‘special condition’.