You, I, Strangers 4

"Whoa, it really has been a long time."

[You became level 99 ten days ago, so it indeed was a long time.]

Yu IlHan had started hunting dragonkin from lower-levelled ones first. He had reached dragonkin over level 170 starting from those that were just over 100 and looked like a giant Komodo lizard.

As such, the quantity of experience he gained also increased gradually, but even despite that, it was an achievement to keep level 99 for ten days. This just meant that the experience to level up to 100, or to be exact, to do the 3rd class advancement quest, the experience needed was unimaginably vast.

Yu IlHan now became to thank the connection with other worlds. If he couldn't enter Dareu, then he would have suffered through a truly long time before his 3rd class advancement.

"I wonder how the others are doing."

[Well, they should be going for quantity rather than quality.]

He prayed once for Kang MiRae and the other friends who would be returning the former peace, and as always, he asked for Erta's opinion of the suggested classes.

[Reaper looks like it just enhances the Rookie Reaper's traits as it is. It will probably be the easiest among the three.]

"Okay, pass."

[God's Hammer looks like a unique job related to smithing. It also seems like it's related to the God of Smithing's interest in you. There will definitely be enough merit to throw away all the records you have piled up until now.]

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm... Pass."

Yu IlHan rejected even the 2nd option after a little bit of thought. In regards to the blessing of the God of Smithing, he judged that he wouldn't regret it even if he chose God's Hammer as his job, but it would definitely be lacking in the aspect of the battle. It also wouldn't be harmonious with Yu IlHan's best ability, concealment.

Decisively, blacksmiths can be chosen as a sub-class. Even if he couldn't, Yu IlHan had the confidence to make good equipment using his own skills. So, he rejected it.

[So that's one now.]

Blazing Reaper. The word 'blaze' implied things such as flames and brilliant flashes. Maybe due to it being spelled starting with the same letter B as Blurred Lancer, Yu IlHan remembered some painful thoughts, but he shook it off.

It wasn't that there wasn't an ominous meaning within the word Blazing, but this time, Yu IlHan's achievements and records were too clear.

"Are the battles I'm doing quite influential to the choices?"

[It isn't just that. Not to mention Eternal Flame, wouldn't your armour and the Orochi spear influence it too?]

Yu IlHan was a man who had a lot to do with fire. He hammered away on metal for several hundred years in front of a fire, and he also had experience in working with the Eternal Flame. This was probably the result of an explosion in the records he had piled up until now.

[I predict that the reason why Clan Master Kang MiRae of the Lightning God Clan has an overwhelming ability compared to her level is that she has unique jobs specializing in a single attribute. Blazing Reaper is the same. I will say this with conviction now, but I think you need to become the Blazing Reaper.]

"Thanks for the wholehearted advice there."

[However.]

Erta's voice turned serious.

[The quest would be of an accordingly absurd high level to the strong powers the class possesses. Do you have the resolve, Yu IlHan?]

"To hell with resolve"

Yu IlHan laughed and pointed towards his surroundings.

"Say that again after looking at the world I'm in."

Saying that he chose Blazing Reaper without hesitation. As if it was all ready beforehand, green text started appearing on Yu IlHan's retina.

[The one that uses a specially strong fire even amongst death gods that lead everything to its doom, the Blazing Reaper. If you can prove your abilities, the heat of hell shall accompany you. However, to bring hell upon the land, you must prove yourself worthy.]

[A time attack quest activates. You have to complete the following conditions within 4 weeks from now.]

[Killing 3rd class 0/10,000]

[Killing 4th class 0/1,000]

[You will fail to advance to Blazing Reaper if you fail the time attack quest, and you may select another class at that time.]

"Good, I expected that much."

Muttered Yu IlHan with a refreshing voice.

Of course, this is a 3rd class quest. It's natural to expect to kill a thousand 4th class!

[...Really?]

"Of course."

Even in an RPG where the GM is a lunatic, these kinds of conditions wouldn't appear, but this is a reality so it's all reasonable! Well, it sure is comforting that he wasn't required to instakill them with a surprise attack, isn't it!

Fuck!

"So, what's time attack?"

[The recording of achievements is complex. If you clear an arcade game with a single coin, that's an amazing achievement in itself, but if someone clears it twice as fast as you, also with a single coin, then who's more amazing? This quest is probably one that judges your ability based on how many enemies you can send to hell in a fixed period of time. I think it's quite suited to a death god's trial.]

"You…explain things in an easier to understand fashion nowadays."

He praised Erta and sighed.

These conditions were hard even when done slowly, but clearing it within just 4 weeks… was really, an insurmountable task.

However, what can be done about it? This quest wasn't something someone else gave him to tease him, but the shortcut that the Akashic Record suggested him for him to win over the brightest potential within the possibilities he had shown until now.

It didn't matter even if he didn't do the quest. The quest would automatically fail after 4 weeks, and replacing the potential of a Blazing Reaper would be the easier path, a normal Reaper or a God's Hammer.

However, such shameful methods weren't to Yu IlHan's liking.

The sense of achievement would be bigger as the given tasks are harder.

Yu IlHan thought back to the time when he instakilled the Troll Boss and the time when he defeated the Orochi after a long battle. He assured himself that he would be able to win over such a moment again.

He silently took out a blood drink cheer pack and bit on it – he planned to replace sleep using reset energy. Although, it was questionable whether his stock of blood drink would last until he cleared Dareu.

"Let's go hunt. We're going non-stop this time. Reta!"

[I understand. I will immediately...]

Reta's voice became fainter. Even though she just had to activate the magic formation, she was somehow hesitating.

"What's the problem?"

[N-no, This can't be possible. There's no way...]

"Stop making me irritated and speak."

At Yu IlHan's urging, Reta replied in the most confused voice since the meeting.

[I-I think there are...elf survivors.]

Momentarily, thousands of scenarios occurred in Yu IlHan's head, before disappearing. He calmly adjusted and reconfirmed with Reta.

"You couldn't feel them until now, but why so suddenly?"

[Although I did tell you that I can see everything that has a foot on this continent, in practice, it's impossible to simultaneously read the information of all life forms.]

"Yes."

It was natural once he thought about it. Yu IlHan resented himself for thinking that it was possible just because Reta told him so, and asked.

"So, how do you read it?"

[You set a target. For example, dragonkin, and 3rd class, like that. After acquiring information like that, I would select the position you would move to, and at this time, I'd analyze all the surrounding environment.]

"Aha."

A reasonable method.

[Now too. I just found the closest dragonkin den, and I was analyzing all information on the surroundings. However...]

"There were elves."

[Yes.]

Reta's voice was trembling. She also should have found it hard to believe that there were survivors. Yu IlHan could also feel the depth of her emotions.

"Erta, how did this come about? You said they were extinct."

[You wouldn't believe me even if I said that the management angel of this world confirmed the extinction before leaving, would you? Yes. I also don't know.]

Yu IlHan sighed. Now that he had a quest he had to finish in 4 weeks, he really had no room to think about other things but...

"You want to confirm it, right?"

[...Yes.]

Yu IlHan could only laugh at her honest answer.

Since this was an important matter, Yu IlHan also wanted to help her if it was for a little bit. Wasn't it all thanks to Reta that he could hunt dragons so quickly?

"Let's go there then. However, this will be the only time. Even if there are other survivors, I will only help you after the quest is over."

[I thank you even with just that. Then we shall move right away. There is at least 30 3rd class dragonkin so please be prepared to fight.]

Even though she knew that there was no way Yu IlHan's concealment would be seen through, Reta warned him just in case he made a mistake before activating the formation. The formation transferred them without a single moment of delay.

It was a dark, stuffy cave.

"It's a cavern again. Hah, they sure like caves. This is a bad battle environment for them too."

[Well, would they have calculated your ambushes?]

Sighed Erta.

Monstrous concealment ability and a just as OP combination of blood drink, Transcendent Regeneration, and Superhuman Strength allowed Yu IlHan to have an absurd continuous battle power, which was currently obliterating the dragonkin of Dareu continent.

Their naive thought of thinking that there was no way a single human would attack their abode, was leading to their extinction.

[Caves are the best places to store treasures. Moreover, most dragonkin are huge and cannot live in human or elven habitats.]

[Dragonkin are mostly lazy. You should know since you've hunted them until now, but unless someone ticks them off, they enjoy lying down.]

Upon Reta's explanation after Erta's, Yu IlHan nodded his head. They were lazy things that did nothing but lie down, but their desire for power also was overflowing and was called disasters once people met them.

Well, Yu IlHan himself had hunted over 20 thousand of them, so he knew that much.

The record that was earned after hunting a monster was, despite not being information made of readable text, it was something that changed Yu IlHan's soul from its roots. A record that's engraved not in the brain but on the body itself. The contact of Akashic Record was like that.

'I think it's also the first time I'm killing so many monsters of one kind.'

Was it due to that? Yu IlHan could naturally understand dragonkin while moving.

It was reasonable to become used to them when killing many of the same species. Even though there was no change to his status after becoming level 99, Yu IlHan's hunting speed gradually became faster.

There was something that he didn't understand precisely because he now understood more about dragonkin.

However, it wouldn't make a difference even if he spoke about it anyway, so he just buried it in a corner of his heart; believing that his suspicion would be cleared sometime after he cleared Dareu.

[Krrrrrrrraaaaaaaa]

[Krrrrrr]

There really were a lot of dragonkin, like what Reta said. Moreover, their levels also neared 180. Not only that, they had the biggest and hardest bodies amongst the dragonkin he had seen until now, so even with Yu IlHan's Black bone giant spear, it looked difficult for him to kill them in single strikes.

Just that,

[How lazy they seem. They seem to be the stereotype of dragonkin.]

[Well, they're doomed to never advance to 4th class if they're like that.]

Like what Erta and Reta said, they were stiff still in their places. He wondered why there were elf survivors near such a dangerous place, but he now realized right away.

Not only did they not have to worry about the approach of other monsters, if there was a considerably strong monster nearby, but those 'considerably strong' monsters were also those that slept 24/7!

"Well, at this point, I feel kinda sorry for killing them."

However, even while saying that Yu IlHan was gripping his spear tightly. Monsters were in the end, dangerous existences. Just because a tiger was sleeping didn't mean that one could become friends with them.

Yu IlHan violently moved his body. The Purple Flame burning on his spear roared as if to grill those sleeping dragonkin immediately as the spear pierced ahead in an instant!

[Kyaaaaaak!]

"Damn."

He felt like he could instakill them with a critical hit, but too bad. Yu IlHan poured a lot of Purple Flame into the body using his spear and jumped into the air.

Meanwhile, the dragonkin who just woke up due to the roars of its colleague were lifting their bodies, but their slowness was like they were having a marathon with a sloth!

[Kirrrrrrrk]

[Khrr... Huuuumaaaaaaannnn...?]

[Whhhhyyyyy iiiiisssssh onnnnnnnnnnne iiiiiiiiin Daaareeeuuuuuuuu....?]

So they can speak! Well, 'speak' but not a human language but a language of dragons, but since Yu IlHan had a max level language skill, they were naturally translated in his ears.

However, that was even more painful for him. Even old men playing poker wouldn't speak so slow!

Listening to them pissed him off! Even though the information might be important, but he didn't even want to listen now!

[Invaaaaaaaaaasssszzzzionnnnnnnn allllllllreaaaaaaaaaaaaadyyyyyyyyy…..?]

[Thhhhhheeeeeee Loooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrdddddddssssszzzzz...!]

Speaking suspicious things, the dragonkin completely lifted their bodies. At that time, Yu IlHan decided.

"Ah, forget it. I'll just kill you and listen from 4th class ones later."

[Khhhh! Khhha!]

The dragon ambushed by Yu IlHan, in the beginning, tried to do something about him while flapping its wings and scraping its front claws, but this cavern may be suited for the dragons to sleep but wasn't suitable for a fight. So, it met its death after Yu IlHan's continuous strikes.

It had no health to endure since Yu IlHan continuously struck with critical hits while voiding all of its attacks.

[You have earned 65,938,984 experience.]

[You have earned the record of Lv 181 Lesser Dragon.]

"Finally, a dragon in the name."

[The flow of mana doesn't seem normal. Some of the remaining lesser dragons may use magic. Please be careful!]

Yu IlHan wordlessly nodded to Erta's words. There were many dragonkin that he had fought that used magic until now, so he was naturally prepared for it.

All dragonkin over 3rd class had a wonder in their body in one form or another, and they mostly manifested through magic.

Magic related to sensing, magic that attacked directly with fire, water or rocks, magic that threw processed mana, all the way through to magic that directly caused anomalies in Yu IlHan's body by creating negative energy from mana.

However, Yu IlHan's method of counteraction was the same for all of them. First, he somehow distracted the enemy to enter concealment, before recovering completely and doing a surprise attack to kill.

It wasn't that much different this time.

[Khaaaa? The innnnnntrrruuuuuudddderrrrrrr...?]

[Cannnnnnnnnnn't seeeeeeeeeeee....]

After realizing that they couldn't move around easily in the cavern, the Lesser Dragons all prepared their mana to attack with magic, but they tilted their head after noticing that the enemy's presence had disappeared.

5 seconds had passed after Yu IlHan killed the first Lesser Dragon.

[Concealing yourself in 5 seconds in front of the enemy...]

[Don't say it. It's more frustrating.]

There was one thing that they didn't know yet.

Like how the high concentration of mana of Dareu strengthened the dragonkin, it also strengthened Yu IlHan, and concealment was still a target of the enhancement.

Yu IlHan leapt with concealment that was a level stronger. His two eyes were directed towards the Lesser Dragons that were looking around the surroundings.

11 minutes, was the time it took for him to clear things up.