CHAPTER 122 Something Unexpected

Resignation is what kills people. Once they've rejected resignation, humans gain the privilege of making humanity their footpath. 

.....

Unlike the last time, there were way too many people coming in and out of the Tower. The difference in foot traffic between nighttime and daytime was far too huge. Not only the building's entrance but the streets surrounding it were packed full as well. Guess that was the literal difference between night and day. Whether it was the lobby, entrance, or the sidewalk, people came and went nonstop.

There were already many eyes looking for me because of this so-called "unknown helper" incident. Aakivara Incident, and Ice Empress appearance with the 10th S-rank hunter of Korea. Was there a need for me to reveal myself and purposely attract attention?

'It'll probably get real noisy if a person suddenly vanishes in a place with so many people in it, right?'

Not only that, the media was casting a spotlight on this mystery helper or whatever, so there wasn't any reason for me to go out of my way and draw attention to myself, was there?

'Obviously not.'

Jin wasn't someone who enjoyed the attention, to begin with.

I made my way to an area with not much foot traffic and pulled out the key to the Demon's Castle from my Inventory. It was a long, slender, golden key. At a casual glance, it even resembled a fancy decorative item.

'No one's around me.'

After scanning my surroundings, I nodded my head.

'Let's enter from here.'

I activated my 'Stealth' skill.

Shururuk…

After vanishing from view, I returned to the main street and walked closer to the Tower while brushing past the countless passersby.

Tap.

Tap.

As befitting the busy street in the middle of the city – and during the daytime, no less – the distance I had to walk wasn't far, but I still ended up bumping into quite a few shoulders as I blended in with the crowd. However, not one person noticed.

'If I were to abuse this Stealth skill, I can do pretty much anything, no?'

'Man, this skill can be used for some really bad things.'

I even thought that this had to be the reason why high-ranking Hunters possessing the Stealth skill were closely monitored at all times. My aimlessly wandering mind didn't stay like that for long. Just like the first time I came here, the surrounding view suddenly transformed as soon as I stepped across the invisible boundary. *Flaaaare!*

In the meantime, I passed through the invisible threshold into a completely different world. 'I can already hear the sounds of flames burning from this far away, so just how hot is it in there?' The giant tower enveloped in flames – the Demon's Castle, replacing the Daesung Tower, filled up my entire view.

I looked up at the massive tower on fire. It stood where Daesung Tower was moments ago. The Demon Castle nearly filled my entire vision. Still, they say humans can get used to anything.

'Feels less oppressive than last time.' Indeed, my anxiousness was practically nonexistent this time. The thing was, though, humans are supposedly capable of quickly adapting to their situations.

'Well, it's not as bad as the first time.' For sure, I didn't feel any nervousness that I felt the first time I saw the Demon's Castle. No, maybe…

'Maybe, it's because I have leveled up too much, built my power, built my army.' I stored the key to the Demon's Castle in my Inventory and summoned an ash-colored key instead.

[Item: Key to the Castle's Gate] 

Rarity: A 

Type: Key 

The key to unlock the gates of the Demon Castle. Can be acquired only after killing the Gatekeeper.]

It was the key I got after killing the gatekeeper, Cerberus. Or my Cerberus now. Back then, I didn't even dare to use it after almost getting bitten by the Cerberus, but now, I could use it.

"Monsters do not respawn in the Demon Castle Dungeon." 

*Shururuk…* 

Next up, I summoned my weapon. On my left hand, the key; and in my right hand, the Baruka's Dagger. I cautiously approached the front gate of the Tower.

'In any case….' I expanded my Perception to the limit. *Thump, thump, thump!* By expanding my sense Stat that had broken past the 250 marks, almost 300, I could even hear my own heart beating as loudly as supersonic booms.

'However, I'm not scared at all.' Unlike before, I was certainly feeling a lot more confident, knowing how strong I was currently. Maintaining my vigilance and shivering from fear were two very different stories, after all. Compared to the past, what I felt now was not fear but an overwhelming confidence resulting from my power. Maintaining sharpness and being afraid were two completely different things.

*Ding~*

 A message appeared in front of the castle door. 

Would you like to use the Castle Gate Key and enter? 

(Y/N)

'No, Miss System, I'll just turn back and go home.' I laughed at the stupid question and selected "Yes".

*Creaaaak-* *Creeaaaak….* 

I didn't even do anything, yet the huge pair of doors began moving as the hinges issued loud creaks. *Slam!* 'Huh….?' I was flustered next. 'No monsters?' I had my Perception expanded to the max, yet I couldn't sense a single presence of monsters from beyond the castle gates.

'There are no monsters??' I wasn't worried that my sense could be wrong as this was something nearly impossible. I had even thought about going to spawn Flame Wheel, Fire Toronto, and Sharding Cyclone in the middle of the ground where a ton of monsters jumped me the moment I opened the door.

'But, what the hell… it's still the same, at least do something different.' What the hell was the meaning of this? The interior was utterly devoid of any life.

'Huh…. Well, this is…." Feeling somewhat shocked, I stored 'Baruka's Dagger' back to my Inventory and entered the Demon's Castle. It happened, then.

*Ding~* 

As soon as a mechanical beep rang inside my head, my immediate reaction was to cast "Calamity Descent". 'Interesting?'

*[A new quest is available.] 

A quest has arrived. 

'A quest?' And it's not a daily quest? Well, that would've been weird; I had already made sure to complete the daily quest before coming here. Then this must be… just a quest. This was the first time I have received "just" a quest.

'Every other quest up until now was hidden, an emergency, or something.' I checked the quest with a tilted head.

Ordinary Quest: Collect the Demon Souls! Part 1

The Demon Castle is full of demons. Please hunt them and collect their souls to earn a special reward. Normal demons contain only one soul, but the upper floors will have demons with multiple souls.

Quest Requirement: Enter the Demon Castle

Quest Goal: Demon Souls 0 / 10,000

Rewards:

Rewards:

1. Any one item available in the Store

2. +20 bonus Stat points

3. An unknown reward

.

20 bonus Stat points!

20 Stat points! As always, the first thing that grabbed my attention was the stat point reward. 'I can raise my strength by 20!' I couldn't help but smile. The disadvantages of low strength couldn't be understated. 'I already have a ton of mana to keep my soldiers regenerating, and it's not like I am saying it's enough; no, it's far from enough. In fact, as long as it's a number, it won't be enough. What I truly see in front of my MP stat is an infinity ♾ sign.'

And until I attain that, it won't be enough no matter how big the number is: 100K, a million, 10 million, 1 billion, 10 billion, a trillion, or even the Googleplex. Until it's a number, it won't be enough for me to even think about taking a break. My big goal for this world is to gain at least 500 stat points in each of my stats. Also, make my mana stat be 500K and my HP stat be 200K. Mana isn't the only benefit of the intelligence stat.

But adding them to my intelligence would be better, as intelligence not only increases my mana but also increases the number of shadows I can extract and store. 

Because of all this, increasing my intelligence is just that much more important. As I already have a high number due to the bonus I gained and my INT, which is my highest stat, I already have 350 summons and 330 that can be stored. 

'There's a limit with just level-ups and daily quests…'

Once I have these 20 more points through the quest, it would take care of some of my problems. 

A smile instinctively formed on my face. I've been feeling the lack of MP for quite some time now. 'I need lots of Mana if the shadow soldiers need to regenerate.' 

And, is Mana my only problem? I've already confirmed that the number of shadows I can extract, as well as the number of soldiers I can store, increases when my Intelligence Stat improves.

So, for me, increasing the 'Intelligence' Stat is a must. 'There has always been a limit to increasing that Stat through level-ups and Daily Quests, but now…' 'Not only that…' My gaze landed on the other rewards.

[Rewards]

1. Any one item available in the Store

2. +20 Bonus Stat points

I was feeling grateful for the bonus Stat points, but now, I could even choose one item from the Store, too?

' I can really choose anything?'

I recalled those ultra-expensive items I saw in the Store's menu.

'I definitely saw….'

There were some S-rarity items that cost billions, hell, even tens of billions there. Well, those billions weren't the real-world currency but Gold that only existed within the System, though.

Still, just how amazing was this?

The 'Knight Killer' he'd been using so nicely until now cost only three million Gold.

'A three million B-rarity item already possesses this high quality and attack power, so just what will those costing billions be like?'

My curiosity had been stoked for sure.

Never mind the mystery third reward, just from looking at those two rewards alone, I knew right away that I couldn't let this quest slip through his fingers.

'For this kind of reward, killing one or two monsters is a walk in the park.'

I was genuinely elated now and thought about finishing this quest real fast to receive those rewards, only for his eyes to bulge out after confirming the quest's clear condition.

"Ten thousand?!"

A smile crept up on my face.

'Well, that would have been, if I was alone.'

Currently, the number of shadow soldiers I possessed was 153.

If each one killed 153, this quest would be cleared. If I pushed my soldiers to work hard, surely this sort of quest would prove to be nothing but a cakewalk.

[Will you accept the 'Normal Quest: Collect the Souls of Demons! (1)'?]

'Of course.'

I had no reason to refuse.

[You have accepted the quest.]

The penalty for failing this quest would be him wasting a bit of time, that'd be all.

'Compared to other quests, uh-whew…..'

Without a doubt, this was truly a wonderful quest when compared to the Class Change Quest or Emergency Quests where my life was on the line.

But even all this it wasn't what I said interesting as I already had a quest like this going to pop up but something I didn't even expect was a new quest which means I got two quests just by coming here.  And the quest was.  

[Weak no longer]

Objective : Reach Level 150 in 40 days.  

Reward : Skill Dark Wisdom, Strong Constitution Perk, Skill Blessing of the Grim Reaper(Weak). 

Hidden Objective : Reach Level 150 in less than 20 or 30 days.  

Extra hidden rewards will be provided depending on days it took to reach level 150. Less time it takes, the better the reward will be.

Quest Failure:  None Player won't be receiving any rewards]

At first, I didn't think much of this, but after giving a glance at those skills, I knew they don't belong to this world. "Dark Wisdom" is from "Overlord," "Strong Constitution Perk" is just that, and "Blessing of the Grim Reaper (Weak)" is pretty powerful, even in its weak form. It's still an amazing skill in my arsenal. Like that, right on time as ever... thanks to my lovely system.

Since I was already planning to go on a grinding session, I have too many dungeons I have delayed for long. That's perfectly doable with my class. I'd even go as far as to say I could do it in a single grind session of 30 days.

 Wonderful, it was worth it. Forget the normal life, even if I had skipped my S-rank examination or had the whole Association on my tail. Blessing of the Grim Reaper (Weak) is something I must have; it will make life that much easier.

Taking a moment to laugh maniacally, I immediately clicked the screen.

[Will you accept the [Weak no longer] Objective : Reach Level 150 in 40 days'?]

'Of course.'

[You have accepted the quest.]

Let's fucking so baby The bonus skill anf perk is nice and all but I could have done this with Blessing of the Grim Reaper(Weak) alone.  

[Collected souls of demons: 0/10,000]

"Ten thousand... Not so far away..."

An amused chuckle escaped my lips as he confirmed the number he had previously only considered a vague notion.

Then he noticed another counter to the left of that one.

"Huh?"

[Experience needed for the next level up: 1,00,200]

There it was, one hundred thousand and two hundred clearly displayed through the holographic interface.

As soon as he reached that threshold, he would level up - or at least that's what the display indicated.

"Even my experience points are being displayed now?"

However, the system had never shown anything like that before entering the Demon's Castle. At most, it appeared in the form of percentages.

"Maybe..."

To confirm, I took a step backward and left the Demon's Castle. As expected, both the counter for souls and experience points disappeared. Stepping back inside, they reappeared as if they had never vanished in the first place.

"Yeah, they only show up inside the Demon's Castle."

Although it was unfortunate not to see them outside the castle, as I wanted to know how much experience an A-rank or B-rank opponent would give, I knew it wouldn't be the same for everyone due to the differing strengths of beasts within the same rank, as well as classes.

For instance, an A-rank assassin wouldn't provide the same amount of experience as killing an opponent of a different class, as assassins were generally easier to defeat than a melee combat class. However, sometimes a magician could yield more.

At least having this information inside the castle was convenient. It might not be perfect, but it would suffice for now. Looking at it from another perspective...

"Does this mean it'll take a long time for me to conquer this place?"

Of course not, especially when considering the appearance of two S-rank hunters who could assist in clearing the castle. If it came to it, I could also solo clear Jeju Island, although I'd rather avoid that.

That was a distinct possibility. I carefully reviewed both quest details one more time and closed the message windows.

"That should be enough preparation, I think."

Finally, I had some room to explore the interior of the Demon's Castle.

"Heok?!"

My eyes widened as I took in the scene. Inside the castle was a ruined city - quite unexpectedly, it was a field-type dungeon. Seeing it in person was much different from viewing it in a picture.

"What is this place? Is this Seoul?"