Chapter 106

I opened up the explanation for the new special skill.

[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.

This was the new skill that appeared upon achieving a purple enhancement.

'All physical damage taken over 0.5 seconds is converted to HP.'

As long as you used the skill with good timing, you could easily bypass an opponent's finishing move—for example, something like Yeonseo's 'Single Hit Finisher'—without taking any damage.

'It's a more advanced ability than the Great Orc Warrior set effect.'

It wasn't simply blocking, but HP absorbing. The effective time was extremely short, but as long as I used it at the right time, it would have an incredible effect.

I turned to Senia. "I'm going to start fusion now."

There were only five minutes left on the Fusestone's timer.

'I don't know how high the success rate is.'

I also didn't know what I had to do to increase it. 'Fusestones' were simply far too foreign a concept for regular people or Players. They were rare treasures that were known only in theory and encountered only in textbooks.

'I guess the only thing I can do to increase the success rate… is to control my thoughts.'

I examined the Fusestone with Observer's Eye, but I couldn't find any hints. I just had the feeling that being confident I could do it was necessary.

'I can do it.'

I repeated the words in my mind.

'I can do it.'

I was different from the past me who couldn't do anything. Now, I was the one who would draw out my own future. I could do it.

'I can do it.'

After several rounds of mental convincing, I used the Fusestone without delay.

[Use the Fusestone?]

[Please select the item you wish to fuse with the Fusestone.]

A square 'slot' appeared in front of my eyes, visible only to me. It seemed I just had to choose and insert the item I wanted in the slot.

[Select the Legolas' Ring +3?]

[Fusing the Legolas' Ring +3 into the Player's body using the Fusestone.]

My body began to sparkle. I never expected I would experience a phenomenon that applied to the highest level Players in the beginner period. It wasn't just a new feeling; it was downright shocking.

[Fusion has begun.]

[Some time is required.]

I had a hunch.

'During this time… I shouldn't drop my focus.'

I couldn't just leave it to the System. No one taught me what to do, but I sat down cross-legged and closed my eyes. There might still be Pearl Centipedes somewhere, but Choi Sung-gu was here. I decided to trust him.

[Meditating with Observer's Eye.]

I turned my gaze inwards to see how the Fusestone was operating in my body, what kind of flow there was inside of me. The sensation was a little different from looking with my eyes. My eyes were closed, but I could feel the flow of mana.

'Is this how… the meditation the top Players mentioned feels?'

It was still hazy. I couldn't feel it clearly, and the sensation of closing my eyes and looking inward was none too familiar, either. However, I was starting to get an idea of what it was like.

'The feeling of foreign energy coming into my body…'

I followed the path the energy was traveling. I couldn't control anything, but I focused on those strands of energy while repeating a mantra in my heart.

'I… can do it!'

Time passed. I heard a notice.

[Congratulations!]

[The fusion was successful!]

Sung-gu wanted to ask, but he held it in.

'Just what the hell is this monster up to?'

He stayed right next to Hyukjin the whole time, just in case any monsters attacked. He almost started talking to himself, but he shut his mouth, not wanting to break Hyukjin's concentration.

'His body was shining earlier.'

There were three flashes of light.

'Is that crazy focus for real?'

It looked like he was meditating, but how could he be so deep in meditation inside a gate, of all places? There was no knowing when a monster would pop out, but Hyukjin was as calm as a pool of still water. His slow, measured breathing told Sung-gu he wasn't dead, but he sure looked like it.

'He really is crazy. This guy's definitely not human.'

Sung-gu shook his head. He didn't think he could for the life of him have that level of focus and recklessness. Though that was what he thought to himself, Choi Sung-gu's ability to focus was rather considerable as well. Hyukjin was too defenseless at the moment, so Sung-gu devoted his full focus to carefully watching the surroundings. He didn't have an 'eye' like Hyukjin, but he didn't let down his guard.

After some more time passed, a purple light blossomed from Hyukjin's body, and his eyes flashed open.

"Woah! Jeez! You scared the bejeebers out of me."

Hyukjin got up and looked around.

"Any monsters?"

"Nope."

"That so?"

"Yeah. Maybe 'cause of the blue light under your feet, I didn't see a single trace of a monster. But dude, what the hell was that? How come your body was all flashy-flashy earlier, and this time, you had all that purple light coming from you?"

Hyukjin laughed. Sung-gu's eyes were sparkling with immense curiosity.

"It was nothing much. I just successfully enhanced an item and absorbed that item in my body."

"Wut?" Sung-gu's head tilted. "Enhancement? Something like that exists?"

"Yeah, it does. Though it hasn't really been released yet."

"How did you do something that hasn't been released yet?"

"You just have to do it."

Sung-gu made a dumbfounded look. 'Just do it', he said. Were those words, or hieroglyphs? It was just like a math whiz saying 'Math? Just solve it'. Just then, Sung-gu realized something.

'He's not talking with me right now.'

It was true that Hyukjin was sharing information with him, a team member, but there was no doubt that Hyukjin was actually explaining what had happened to the Guardians right now.

'I've got to keep the questions going so it looks natural, right?'

Sung-gu innocently asked, "Then what's with absorption?"

"I fused a ring."

"Fused?"

"Yeah. Thanks to that, I got a special skill."

Hyukjin heard notices.

[The 'skill' of the fused item has been confirmed.]

[Due to the successful fusion, the item's skill will be converted to the Player's skill.]

[Checking the degree of fusion and compatibility between the item's skill and the Player's body.]

And the results of the compatibility check were:

[The compatibility has been evaluated as 'perfect'.]

[The optimal conditions for absorbing the item's power have been met.]

[The special skill Absorption has been generated.]

Hyukjin's mood soared. The 'Absorption Ring' skill attached to the Legolas' Ring had a fatal flaw, and that was that it could only be used one time. If you used the skill, the item would be destroyed.

But not anymore.

[Absorption]

Absorbs all physical damage for 0.5 seconds. The absorbed damage is converted to HP.

Cooldown: 24 hours

Not only did the level restriction disappear, but the skill was no longer one-time-use, but usable once per day. This astonishing result meant that the degree of fusion between the item and Player was very high and the compatibility was as high as it could be.

Sung-gu cautiously asked, "Can I ask… what that skill is?"

"You'll find out in due time."

Hyukjin didn't really intend on keeping it a secret from Sung-gu. Efficient teamplay was only possible if your teammates knew what cards you had in store. It was just that Hyukjin was keeping it a secret from the Guardians. He only revealed 70% and kept 30% to himself.

Sung-gu nodded. "Okay. Gotchu. We're gonna clear this place now, yeah? I want out of this scary cave, plus I think quite a lot of time has passed."

"How long was I sitting down?"

"Dunno, like thirty minutes?"

Senia appeared and corrected Sung-gu's words.

"It was two hours, twelve minutes, and four seconds."

"Eh? You serious? It was that long? Was it 'cause I was tense? The time flew goddamn fast."

Hyukjin glanced around. 'If this place has the same structure as the gate on Plum Blossom Island…'

The Clear Crystal would be at the end of the cave.

'Originally, we were supposed to catch the Pearl Centipedes.'

Hyukjin's real goal was to get the 'pearls' dropped by the Pearl Centipedes. It was an item that would be useful in the U-Plex Dungeon their party had to clear. The sudden appearance of a Predator Tree had kicked his plans slightly off-track.

"For now, I can't sense any Pearl Centipedes nearby."

He didn't know if that was because they ran away from the Predator Tree, or because they were burned to death by the fire Sung-gu lit.

"Let's look for the Clear Crystal."

* * *

The cave was almost the same as the one on Plum Blossom Island. Hyukjin was able to find the purple Clear Crystal without much difficulty and thus clear the Centipede Cave.

[The gate Centipede Cave has been cleared.]

[EXP acquired as a clear reward for the gate Centipede Cave.]

[An 'achievement' was earned during the clear of the gate Centipede Cave.]

Sung-gu broke into a grin. "Must be 'cause we killed that strong mothafucker earlier, right? That level 40 dude."

He got excited. But in the next moment, the excitement on his face froze.

['Map of the Predator Tree Colony' acquired.]

He started shaking his head, his face paling.

"I don't need a map like this." Sung-gu trembled all over. Killing one of them was already so difficult, but a colony? No way. "We're not gonna go there, right?"

"..."

"Hey, Hyukjin. Please. Please tell me we're not going there."

"..."

Sung-gu looked up to find Hyukjin smiling broadly at him.

"Hey, you crazy sonova bitch. Going to a frickin' colony when just one of them nearly fucking killed you is ridiculous. Right? Right? Let's live with some common sense."

But even as he spoke, Sung-gu had a hunch. Their sovereign boss would definitely go there, and this map would definitely be used one day.

"Fuuuck…"

He should just give up and work hard to learn magic. In the first place, he never thought of sending Hyukjin there alone. Everything was based on the premise of 'going together'. He would go, yes, but a tearful look appeared on his face.

"I shouldn't have become friends with you."

Hyukjin ignored Sung-gu's complaining and whining. Even in his past life, Choi Sung-gu was said to whine in a manner that didn't match his Flame Lord nickname, to the point where people said his whining was proportional to his skills.

[10,000 Coins acquired as a reward for clearing the gate Centipede Cave.]

Sung-gu made a fist of excitement. "Woohoo!"

In addition to that—

['Centipede Fang' acquired as a clear reward.]

['Pearl Centipede Body' acquired as a clear reward.]

They were given all of the gate clear rewards.

[Leaving the gate.]

The two found themselves back outside. Thanks to Taeguk Shield and the police sealing off the surroundings well, there was no further damage.

'We absolutely need Pearl Centipede pearls in order to go into the U-Plex Dungeon.'

That meant they would still have to go to Plum Blossom Island. But then, Hyukjin noticed that [!!!] marks were floating above Darongi's head, and they were even red.

A notice came in.

[Darongi requests that you open his Inventory.]

A [♩♪] mark appeared on top of the [!!!], and the squirrel was puffing out his chest with pride, obviously proclaiming his awesomeness with great enthusiasm.

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