48 Chapter 47

Jin-Woo looked up at the counter.

[ DEMON SOULS OBTAINED: 9624 / 10,000 ]

Only 400 souls are left to complete the quest.

Today was the sixth day of the raid. One more day would be enough to gather the remaining souls. 

The only good thing about the stronger demons on the upper floors was that they yielded more than one soul. He wouldn't have to kill 400 demons to complete the quest, with a little luck he wouldn't even have to kill 200 of them.

He wanted to finish this quest mainly for the 20 stat points reward. 

Jin-Woo moved forward.

Just a little bit more.

He would stop cleansing the castle for now on floor 75.

***

- Finally.

Jin-Woo couldn't hide his joy. Fortunately, the last monster he killed gave him four souls, just enough to complete the quest.

Jin-Woo fell to the ground, stretching out and stroking Tank's thick fur sitting next to him. His soldiers stood around him, waiting patiently for orders or dismissal. 

[ DEMON SOULS OBTAINED: 10,001]

[ NORMAL QUEST: ACQUIRE DEMON SOULS (PART 1)] HAS BEEN COMPLETED ]

[ YOU CAN RECEIVE THE FOLLOWING REWARDS. ] 

[ ITEM OF CHOICE FROM SHOP ]

[ 20 BONUS STAT POINTS ]

[ HIDDEN REWARD ]

[ REWARD 1 ] 

[ PLEASE SELECT ANY ITEM FROM SHOP ]

He had plenty of time to think about what to choose from the store. 

He came up with what he wanted.

It was something Jin-Woo had been thinking about ever since he saw the quest. 

He wanted to have the cursed random box.

Earlier, when he had the chance, Jin-Woo chose the blessed random box instead of the cursed random box. That's when he got the key to the Demon Castle. Thanks to that key, he gained many things. Levels, new items, and so much gold. 

The blessed random box contained the item the player wanted, while its cursed counterpart that he didn't choose earlier contained the item the player needed. 

It was only natural that he was curious about what he would get from the second box since the first one had given him so much.

[ YOU HAVE SELECTED THE ITEM: CURSED RANDOM BOX. ]

A small black box appeared in his hand. 

Feeling that its weight was strangely familiar, Jin-Woo quickly opened it. 

Another key?

This one was a little more twisted and all black. 

Wanting to find out what this key was for, Jin-Woo opened its description.

[ ITEM ] 

[ NAME: ??? ]

[ DIFFICULTY LEVEL: ??? ]  

[ TYPE: ??? ]

Seriously? 

Jin-Woo looked stupidly at the description. 

That was very helpful. 

What was this key for?

And how come it didn't have a description?

Jin-Woo frowned in bewilderment. 

This was the first time he saw an item without any description. 

It was really strange. 

Feeling slightly disappointed, Jin-Woo put the key in his inventory. 

According to the description, this key was something Jin-Woo needed. 

Maybe just not right now. 

He would definitely find out someday.

Closing the inventory, Jin-Woo took the second reward for the quest.

[ REWARD 2 ] 

[ YOU HAVE RECEIVED 20 STAT POINTS ]

Without thinking too long, Jin-Woo put all of them into the intelligence stat. 

He had obtained as much as 45 intelligence points today. That was insanely much.

He opened the status window, looking over all his stats.

[ STRENGTH: 178 ]

[ DEXTERITY: 147 ] 

[ SENSES: 119 ]

[ VITALITY: 37 ] 

[ INTELLIGENCE: 149 ]

His stats looked really nice. 

The low vitality stat stung his eyes a bit, but he wasn't a tank and didn't need much health. 

He closed the window looking at the last reward to collect.

[ REWARD 3]

Judging by what he got as the first and second reward, even if the first one didn't seem useful for now, Jin-Woo didn't have high expectations for the third and had already received a lot. And he wasn't a greedy person. 

A slightly worn, ancient-looking scroll appeared in his hand. 

The scroll was slightly similar to the pass to the next floors, maybe only a little smaller. 

[ RECIPE: HOLY WATER OF LIFE ] 

[ YOU CAN LEARN TO MAKE "HOLY WATER OF LIFE" ]

What appeared in his hand along with the message was a scroll similar to the passes from the Demonic Castle. 

Jin-Woo opened the description of the "Holy Water of Life" itself, wanting to find out more about it. 

[ ITEM ]

[ HOLY WATER OF LIFE ] 

[ DIFFICULTY LEVEL: S ]

[ TYPE: CONSUMABLE ]

[ A MYSTERIOUS MIXTURE THAT CAN CURE ANY DISEASE. THE EFFECT WILL ONLY BE APPLIED AFTER DRINKING THE WHOLE BOTTLE ]

Jin-Woo blinked. 

Cure any disease? 

As he read those words, Jin-Woo thought of his mother lying in the hospital. 

If he could really get this Holy Water of Life, it meant he could save his mother.

Jin-Woo's hands trembled at the thought. 

Will the four-year-long nightmare finally end?

Jin-Woo looked at the things needed to create this water. 

[ LIFE TREE FRAGMENT ] 

He already had that. He acquired it on floor fifty after defeating Vulcan. 

[ SPRING WATER FROM ECHO FOREST ] 

He obtained this water after defeating Metus on floor 75, it was one of the two rewards he got, the other being the necklace. 

He didn't have the last ingredient yet. 

[ REFINED BLOOD OF THE DEMON KING ] 

That was the only item he hadn't acquired yet. However, looking at the floors where he obtained the two ingredients, it was clear to him where the last one came from. 

On the hundredth floor, there would probably be a boss waiting for him and it was its blood that he would have to obtain. 

Therefore, clearing the Demon Castle would provide him with all the ingredients needed to create the Holy Water of Life. 

At that moment, one thought hit him with the force of a runaway truck. 

He wanted power, levels, and better equipment. 

But maybe that's not what the box was supposed to give him ultimately. 

Maybe what he wanted from the blessed random box was the "Holy Water of Life"?

His eyes shone with tears at the thought of seeing his mother healthy and smiling again. 

What he wanted most was to get his mother back. 

Blinking quickly, Jin-Woo tried to wipe away the tears from his eyes, he had to leave this place at last. 

For now. 

He would come back here. 

Now he knew he had to come back here. 

For mom.

***

On his way home, Jin-Woo kept thinking about how to acquire an artifact that would give him fire resistance. 

However, the problem wasn't "how" because going to the auction house wouldn't be difficult.

The problem was that a hunter of rank E couldn't easily buy or sell high-level artifacts. If a lower-ranked Hunter (and Jin-Woo was known as the weakest) puts an item up for auction (an item impossible for top-ranked hunters to acquire), who wouldn't suspect him? The same goes for buying. With the title "Rank E Hunter" attached to him, Jin-Woo had difficulties utilizing the accumulated funds. 

After all, how would he explain the astronomical amounts he was managing? He was 24 years old, a young weak hunter supporting a high school sister. 

He wouldn't have the opportunity to earn that money legally. At least in the eyes of other people. 

He had earned that cash legally, after all. 

So this was the moment. 

Time to shed the mask of a Rank E hunter. 

He had to take the test again. 

He wondered how Inspector Woo would react to this? The man probably didn't expect Jin-Woo to hide as a Rank E hunter for the rest of his life. That man's patience was probably not unlimited either. 

The Hunter's expression became serious. 

Having so much strength now, no one could use Jin-Woo for their own purposes. 

There were also few people who could really hurt him. 

And that was one of his initial goals of becoming stronger in the first place. To stop stronger individuals from controlling him and hurting him and his loved ones. 

And now? 

He was able to stand face-to-face with the Guild Master of the White Tiger Guild, Baek Yoon-Ho. When he met the guild master, he was stronger than Jin-Woo, but that was before Jin-Woo cleared 76 floors of the demon castle, gaining higher levels, new items, and many stat points. 

He felt a strange excitement at the thought of shedding the Rank E rating he had been humiliated with for four years. 

He had to check one thing. Jin-Woo turned on his phone. After a week without contact, his phone was full of missed calls and messages. Most of them were from unknown numbers. He felt bad, but he didn't really want to check who the callers were. 

If it was something urgent, they would definitely call back, if not, it wasn't worth bothering with. 

When he finally found the number he needed, Jin-Woo dialed it and waited.

- Bro! 

Had he really spent that long underground? 

The brat's voice sounded much happier and more energetic than usual. 

- Did the talk with your dad go well?

- Yes, it went well. 

That was good to hear. Jin-Woo didn't want to take the retest while Jin-Ho's agreement with his father was not concluded. But if Jin-Ho's talk with his father went well, then Jin-Woo's role here ended. 

- Actually... I wanted to meet with you to...

When Jin-Ho's words were cut off, Jin-Woo frowned looking at his phone. 

The battery died. Right, he forgot to charge it before entering the underground. 

The talk with Jin-Ho could wait a little. First he had to get home, take a shower and charge his phone. 

And maybe he'll go to the Association first. 

That was a good plan. 

It wasn't about seeing Inspector Woo at all. 

Not at all. (T/L: Yeah Yeah Sure..)