NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Obtaining a Hidden Class wasn’t an easy feat.
Rumors said it could be acquired by fulfilling certain special conditions at the moment of leveling up, but…
Hunters who had obtained Hidden Classes kept their mouths shut to monopolize its power, so there was no way to figure out what those conditions were.
Even if the conditions were met, individual differences existed, so there was no guarantee that one would necessarily obtain a Hidden Class.
Therefore, Kang Jin-hyuk hadn’t held the slightest expectation of obtaining a Hidden Class until this morning.
Just having a dungeon appear in his house was a miracle in itself. He thought it would be greedy to wish for more.
“It’s hard to be happy because the way I obtained it is quite disturbing.”
Kang Jin-hyuk let out a small sigh as he examined his status window.
It was a reward for killing a person, even if it was in self-defense.
Becoming a Hidden Class was definitely a huge gain, but he didn’t want to jump around and rejoice.
“Let’s check it out properly first.”
The first thing he checked was the new skill that had replaced ‘Heal’ and ‘Cure.’
『Hard Skin』
Hard skin can even block swords and spears.
Current Skill Level: D
Reduces all damage taken by 20% while the skill is active.
Can also be cast on others.
Duration: 120 seconds
Cooldown: 30 seconds
『Status Effect Resistance』
Increases resistance to status effects such as poison, sleep, and stun.
Current Skill Level: C
Grants 30% resistance to status effects with a rank lower than your skill level.
Duration: Permanent
After checking the two skills, Kang Jin-hyuk understood what it meant for the skills to have been altered.
The skill that changed from ‘Heal’ still had a protective effect, and the altered ‘Cure’ skill also had the commonality of allowing him to withstand status effects.
Although the skill effects had changed to be more offensive and self-centered, the essence itself hadn’t changed much.
Of course, the same was true for ‘Holy Shield.’
『Defense Charge』
Charges forward like a tank.
Current Skill Level: C
Designates a target within 15m.
Physical defense increases by 10% while charging.
Cooldown is reset upon killing the target.
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Judging from the changed skills so far, it was no longer a class that could be called a Cleric.
Protective skills, a charging skill that increased defense, and even status effect resistance.
Wasn’t this the desirable skill set of a Tanker in anyone’s eyes?
“The most important thing is the skill related to Holy Power, but…….”
Until now, Kang Jin-hyuk had been using Lucia’s trick to substitute Mana for Holy Power.
Thanks to that, he was able to handle Aura even though he couldn’t handle a single ounce of Mana.
With a trembling heart, Kang Jin-hyuk checked how the Hidden Skill he had obtained had changed.
『Fighting Spirit Application – 3rd Stage』
Allows the user to use Fighting Spirit at will, in addition to specific skills.
Current Skill Level: C
Increases physical attack power when using Fighting Spirit.
Increases attack speed and defense penetration damage in proportion to the MP consumed.
If the enemy is not hit, MP consumption increases proportionally to the time elapsed.
『Fighting Spirit』
Manifests the will to fight in the form of an aura.
Current Skill Level: D
Can strengthen the body or weapons with the power of Fighting Spirit.
Damage from Fighting Spirit cannot be offset by skills other than Aura-type skills.
After checking the skills up to this point, Kang Jin-hyuk breathed a sigh of relief.
Now that the tension had eased, he felt like collapsing somewhere.
He brought a chair and plopped his bottom down.
Kang Jin-hyuk organized the situation.
When he calmly considered the pros and cons, the results were easily derived.
“Then the changes are more beneficial.”
It was a shame to lose the merits of a Cleric, but it wasn’t that important a factor for Kang Jin-hyuk.
Since he had a monopoly on the dungeon, a class specialized in solo play was a better fit than a class preferred by other Hunters.
“The problem is, what are these new skills…….”
What Kang Jin-hyuk was staring at with serious eyes were the newly appeared skills in his status window.
『Judgment』
Allows you to check the karma that the opponent carries.
Current Skill Level: C
It becomes possible to quantify and check the karma that the opponent has accumulated.
Judging from the fact that the cooldown and duration were not written separately, it was clearly a Passive Skill.
Unlike the existing skills that had been altered, this was one of the newly acquired skills.
Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t quite understand what effect this skill had.
The word ‘Karma’ was nothing more than a word representing a character from a famous game to him.
He had no idea what that word meant.
“Karma, retribution……?”
He found the most plausible meaning among the search results on the internet, but it was still unclear.
Kang Jin-hyuk looked at the mirror in the living room to check the skill himself.
As he focused on his reflection in the mirror, a number appeared above his head.
“64. What kind of value is this?”
Without a reference point, it was difficult to judge whether the number was high or low just by looking at it.
“Should I look around and calculate the average?”
He was curious, but Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t want to go outside right now.
Hadn’t he just been attacked by someone he didn’t even know a little while ago?
It was too dangerous to wander around outside without a plan, especially when he wasn’t even sure if it was a lone wolf attack.
“Oh, right, there was one more.”
Kang Jin-hyuk checked another skill that he had forgotten for a moment because of the ambiguous explanation.
『Trial』
Grants stats and additional effects when facing an enemy with high Karma.
No Skill Level
Stats increase proportionally to the opponent’s Karma.
Increases by 20% when 200 or higher.
Increases by 50% when 300 or higher.
Increases by 100% when 500 or higher.
When killing an enemy with 200 or more Karma, the title of ‘Villain’ is not attached, and the penalty for killing is removed.
After checking the contents of the skill, Kang Jin-hyuk was speechless for a moment.
Getting stronger was good.
He didn’t know what the Karma value was related to, but it wouldn’t hurt him anyway.
But the last sentence was hard to ignore.
Removing the penalty for killing might sound good at first glance.
But when Kang Jin-hyuk thought about why he had acquired such a skill, he felt uneasy.
“They say that job changes and skills are determined by a person’s usual behavior…….”
Come to think of it, he didn’t hesitate when he killed that stranger, even though he regretted it.
“But still, it’s too much to give me a skill as if I’m going to kill a few more people in the future.”
He had been a Cleric, but his nature had changed drastically with just one 2nd Job Advancement.
Among the altered skills and the newly acquired skills, there were no more abilities to heal or support others.
Skills focused on combat and a skill to judge others by their Karma value.
The name of the Hidden Class that Kang Jin-hyuk had obtained was ‘Judge.’
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>
The Dwarf finished the work that he had said would take half a day in less than half the time.
He wasn’t as confident in enchanting as he was in working with metal, so he had exaggerated the time it would take.
His hands moved faster than expected.
Was it because it was a rare material that he hadn’t handled in a while?
“It was a good distraction while I was making Elf arrows, yeah.”
“……Do you really have to leave a remark like that?”
“Don’t take them if you don’t like it.”
Every time the Dwarf spewed out insults with a smug expression, Lucia’s anger boiled over beyond the limits of her patience.
The only reason she didn’t stick an arrow between the Dwarf’s eyebrows was that she was in a completely disadvantaged position.
Now that she had been transported to another dimension with the dungeon, the only one who could make arrows that could withstand Lucia’s power was the Dwarf.
If the Dwarf cut off the supply of arrows, Lucia’s bow would be nothing more than a cumbersome accessory.
‘Bear with it, bear with it.’
Imagining the sweets that Kang Jin-hyuk had promised, Lucia barely managed to suppress her rising temper.
Fortunately, before she reached her limit, she saw Kang Jin-hyuk walking towards them from afar.
Kang Jin-hyuk, who made eye contact with Lucia, looked above her head and muttered ’82’ softly.
It was almost like a whisper to himself, but Lucia could hear it clearly with her developed hearing.
‘What does that mean?’
The question grew stronger when Kang Jin-hyuk looked at the Dwarf and said the number ’72.’
What on earth did that number mean?
While Lucia was pondering, Kang Jin-hyuk approached the Dwarf, who was outside the blacksmith’s workshop.
“Oh? Are you done already?”
“Yeah, it was easier than I thought.”
The Dwarf picked up the bat he had placed beside him and handed it over.
The moment Kang Jin-hyuk grabbed the bat’s handle, he felt a tingling sensation like static electricity.
That feeling was proof that the enchantment had been successfully completed.
“The maximum number of charges you can store in advance is 3. It takes 30 minutes to charge one charge.”
The Dwarf pointed his finger beyond the corner, telling him to test the power himself.
Kang Jin-hyuk found an iron stake stuck there and a Goblin tied up so it couldn’t escape, and let out a hollow laugh.
“When did you prepare that?”
“I did it for fun since I finished work early.”
The Goblin struggled to escape, but the rope the Dwarf had tied tightly wouldn’t budge.
“Seeing it thrashing around like that makes me feel a little sorry for it.”
“Then shall I untie it?”
“No, you made it for me, so I should use it gratefully.”
Just as monsters didn’t discriminate when attacking people, Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t intend to be picky about which monsters he killed.
“How do I shoot lightning? Do I have to say a spell or something?”
“Where’s the time to chant spells in the middle of a fight? Just imagine it in your head.”
Kang Jin-hyuk was slightly disappointed when he heard the answer.
‘It would have been cooler to chant a spell.’
Thanks to the Dwarf, who didn’t know romance and only cared about efficiency, using the new function was very easy.
Just by briefly imagining the appearance of lightning, blue sparks began to appear at the end of the bat.
“Hmm.”
Lucia watched the process closely from about three steps away.
It was a blatantly staring gaze, but Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t notice it because he was focused on the baseball bat.
“Imagination…….”
Kang Jin-hyuk imagined himself swinging the bat and shooting lightning.
Then, the lightning that came out of the end of the baseball bat stretched towards the Goblin as he had imagined.
It took less than a second for the Goblin to be burned to charcoal with a flash of light.
The lightning wasn’t satisfied with just one Goblin and scattered in all directions around the corner with a bright light.
“Kieeek!!”
He could hear the screams of the Goblins that had been caught in the vicinity.
Judging from the considerable amount of experience points he gained, it wasn’t just one or two Goblins that had been hit.
When he heard screams even from quite a distance, the Dwarf chuckled.
“As expected of Orihalcon. It’s even better than I expected!”
Kang Jin-hyuk was also smiling.
To think that he could freely control the lightning of that troublesome new type of monster.
With this much power, he could easily deal with a few small fry monsters, no matter how many of them came at him.
But what was even more surprising than the power was the ‘fuel efficiency.’
Even though he had used such a flashy skill, Kang Jin-hyuk’s MP hadn’t decreased at all.
“How does this shoot lightning without consuming any MP?”
“MP?”
When the Dwarf reacted as if it was an unfamiliar word, Kang Jin-hyuk quickly changed his words.
“Mana, I mean.”
“That stuff recharges itself, so you don’t need it.”
“It recharges itself?”
Unlike Kang Jin-hyuk, who was so surprised that his eyes nearly popped out, the Dwarf had an expression that seemed to say, ‘What’s the big deal?’
“Didn’t you know that the material you brought had that function?”
The answer that came back was even more shocking.
If it had been such an amazing item, he could have earned enough money to quit being a Hunter immediately if he had sold it.
Thinking about it like that made him feel very regretful.
‘I burned billions just to use some lightning.’
Kang Jin-hyuk let out an empty laugh, thinking that this bat he had might be the most expensive weapon in the world.
It was bound to him, so he couldn’t even sell it.
This bat seemed to be becoming more and more burdensome as the days went by.
“Are you done admiring it?”
The Half-Elf, who had been standing next to him as if waiting for the end credits of a boring movie to roll, spoke in a nonchalant voice.
The Dwarf’s creation, which Kang Jin-hyuk thought was amazing, didn’t seem to be a big deal to her.
She was the one who had shot down the new type of monster, which was the owner of the skill, with a single arrow, so it was a natural reaction.
“If you’re done, I’d like you to deal with me now.”
Kang Jin-hyuk stared blankly at the hand Lucia held out.
He understood what that gesture meant.
But he couldn’t figure out what she wanted.
“Do you need anything?”
“You… You haven’t forgotten why you came outside, have you?”
Kang Jin-hyuk finally realized why he had felt like he had forgotten something before entering the dungeon.
‘I’m screwed.’
It was too late to realize it.
But it wasn’t like there was absolutely no way out.
‘Should I give her that?’
He had left all the expensive desserts he had bought on the street, but there was one thing left in his inventory.
Lucia tilted her head as she looked at the item Kang Jin-hyuk handed her.
“What’s this?”
She seemed to have no idea what the colorfully decorated can contained.
To react like this even though the appearance of the contents was clearly decorating the can meant…
That there wasn’t even anything similar to this in the world where Lucia lived.
Or that she had never experienced it before.
Kang Jin-hyuk gambled on that unfamiliarity.
He intended to make up for the gap with the desserts from the bakery by satisfying her curiosity.
Kang Jin-hyuk could see from Lucia’s brightening complexion that his gamble had paid off.
Lucia rolled the candy around in her mouth for a long time before belatedly hiding her excited face.
“Ahem.”
Even if it was someone else…
She didn’t want to show the Dwarf that she was happy about food.
Lucia savored the taste of the candy with as calm a face as possible.
“How is it?”
“……It’s much better than the fancy food you’ve been bringing. Why are you only bringing this now?”
Kang Jin-hyuk made a complicated expression when he heard Lucia’s review.
The fancy food she was talking about were the handmade pastries he had carefully chosen.
To think that a 200 won candy was better than that.
‘Her taste is so cheap.’
Swallowing the words that might get an arrow hole between his eyebrows if he uttered them, Kang Jin-hyuk held out the can of lollipops to her.
Lucia, who received the can with a satisfied face, immediately took out a new lollipop and put it in her mouth.
“Good, good. Now that the most important thing has been taken care of, let’s move on to the next.”
“Next? Do you want more?”
“No, I’m done with food for now.”
Lucia suddenly looked at Kang Jin-hyuk with a serious look.
After examining him as if she were a detective evaluating a person, Lucia gained certainty.
The energy that had been surrounding Kang Jin-hyuk…
She knew that the Holy Power that had flowed out strongly every time he used Aura was no longer felt at all.
Even when he was handling the baseball bat, what flowed out of his hand wasn’t Holy Power, but ordinary ‘Mana.’
“I thought something was strange.”
Lucia flicked the stick of the lollipop she was holding in her mouth up and down like a cigarette butt.
“Did something happen to you outside?”
Her question was laced with more than 50% certainty.
Faced with the sudden interrogation, Kang Jin-hyuk gulped involuntarily.