NOVEL NEXT chapter 67
67 – The Dragon Slayer
*
“Why is everyone like this..?”
It must not have been a long time since the monster’s blood on them has not yet hardened.
“Why…? Is this your reaction right now?”
“Brother, would you like it?”
“Should I lock you up…?”
They react violently toward me. It looks like it would have eaten me already if there were no people around.
“…For a very short time, you really did die. With Master’s acupuncture, I confirmed that my entire body stopped vital activity, but suddenly the necklace began to glow and come to life.”
Even Seung-ah, who seems to be talking while remaining calm, has fierce eyes looking at me. She gave me the feeling that if she left this place, she wouldn’t let me go.
‘Sure… I didn’t give any explanation, did I?’
Now that I think about it again, only I knew the function of the artifact Shinwoo made, and I hadn’t told anyone about it. If that’s the case, other than Seung-ah, it means that my death is the second time.
It’s been confirmed that I’m alive, so I’ve calmed down a bit. Before the artifact’s effect was activated, the reaction might have been more desperate than now.
It was a somewhat completed plan in my head, but it probably didn’t feel that way to the party. The situation was so urgent that there was not enough time to explain.
So I could make an excuse that I couldn’t help it, but I didn’t really want to.
“Sorry everyone. I was wrong.”
I apologized without making any excuses or sabotages. I don’t want to fight with people who only look at me, and spouting out reasons is not something I would do to someone who is worried.
Even if I went in later and explained why I did it, it was right to apologize now.
“…Did you think you could get over it with just one apology? You’ll be rewarded in the future, so look forward to it.”
“That’s right. I was really surprised to the point of bursting my heart. Do you think that will work?”
“I have to make a child right now…”
Even though he said that, his expression softened a lot compared to before. Because there is no way that the girls who have been with me for a long time don’t know that my words are sincere.
“It’s unreasonable to hold on to the spirit for a while…”
The exhausted Seung-a removed the curtain that was blocking her surroundings. It was no wonder that he used his awakening and dribbled a 299 monster.
I was really thankful that he even hid our situation for me. However, even before we could convey our feelings, the moment the atmosphere disappeared, we felt countless eyes on us.
The association’s staff and hunters who faced Nidhogg around here, as well as numerous reporters who may have jumped after watching the broadcast the moment the boss was caught, were also visible.
Flashes went off several times, and at the same time, there were a lot of people approaching me. Originally, I would have run away because I didn’t want to get involved in troublesome things, but now it was different.
‘As much as I become famous, Estelle, whom I fought with, will also see the effect of dripping water.’
I could definitely feel that Estelle’s total amount of energy had increased a little more than before I defeated Nidhogg.
Seeing that she, who used up her energy all the way to the bottom, recovered her strength to that extent, I can only say that the total amount itself has increased. So this interview will also give her strength.
The moment we were preparing for the interview, there were people who stood in our way.
“These are hunters who are very tired from raiding until now. Please interview later.”
They were members of the Association, wearing uniforms that were torn in places. It seemed like they were trying to stop the reporters from getting tired of us who had just finished the raid.
The way one of them even winked seemed like a sign to trust them.
‘But I just meant to..!’
It was a great opportunity to help Estelle grow, but if you block it like that, I’ll come forward and say, ‘I’m going to do an interview.’
And they must have done this because they had a great crush on me, but turning over here is also an act that is a great rudeness to them.
‘Well… I can’t help it.’
Shinwoo’s broadcast would be enough to solve the story. Even if I don’t bother to do an interview, the knights will go out on their own, and the video of Nidhogg caught will go viral.
If even a short video spreads, people who are interested in it will definitely take an interest in Estelle from the beginning while looking for the entire video.
I have no choice but to believe that now.
“Then shall we go back…?”
Now that things have come to this, there seems to be no need to linger here any longer. Everyone needed to heal minor wounds or contamination from dealing with monsters, and they must have accumulated fatigue.
In particular, since everyone used their strength to the point of exhaustion, the mental fatigue would be very great. Since it was a raid that happened consecutively after consuming energy by subjugating monsters, everyone must be exhausted.
Still, I couldn’t go on like this, so I lightly washed away the blood with the water in my inventory, drank one potion at a time, and went into a nearby building to change clothes.
This was possible because there were many women’s clothes in Seung-ah’s inventory. Because the size was wide enough, Estelle, who has a huge chest, could wear it without difficulty.
I was much better than before, and I managed to get home after asking for the understanding of people who recognized me in between.
And the moment I got home, I started to be terribly beaten.
To the point where I thought it would be better to fight Nidhogg one more time.
*
I was scolded for almost 3 hours and admitted to being a criminal. First of all, I opened the status window with the idea of checking my current status.
‘Status window. Except for skills.’
I didn’t bother to check the skill because I felt it without even looking at it.
[Name: Yuwon Kim (Lv198 / 81%)
Age : 137
Gender : Male
Type: Giant
Stats▼
Muscle Strength : 103
Intense: 69
Stamina : 90
Intellect: 49
Magi : 70
Spirit : 104
Affinity : 30
Luck: 20
Remaining points: 15
Characteristics▼
5 Lives (S), Brain Retardation (S), Savior of the World (S), Indomitability (S), Primeval Giant (SS), Dragon Slayer (S), Invincibility (S)]
‘Why did my level rise so much?’
The fact that this is a level system doesn’t simply give you a lot of experience points for successfully defeating a high-level enemy.
It is a rescue machine that gives more experience points the more you understand the opponent, so it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the opponent, but I have never tried that against Nidhogg.
Even though the enemy wasn’t easy enough to make such an attempt in the first place, I only cared about killing them, so I thought that no matter how big the gap was, I would only go up to 10 levels.
“Maybe it has something to do with what Nidhogg said.”
Didn’t the sparrow that appeared at that time say that it knew something about me before making Nidhogg run wild?
Maybe my understanding of Nidhogg was measured high because of something related to it. Since I received a lot of experience, there was nothing bad about it, so I decided to move on.
‘Because it’s not a problem that will come out with an answer just by worrying more.’
It’s going to be hard to figure out anything else without catching that sparrow. First of all, the accumulated experience was important enough to reach Hwagyeong with just one more gate.
Other than that, looking at the stats, there were more changes than expected. Physical strength, intelligence, magic, and affinity that broke the 9 wall stood out.
In particular, intelligence has risen by an additional 9 beyond breaking the wall to face a new wall, so if you add 3 to quickness, the only simple stat that has risen from this battle is 16.
My abilities, which did not rise easily even with daily training, rose rapidly with just one fight against an absurdly strong enemy. I really experienced death once, so it wasn’t that I didn’t understand this level of growth.
‘For now, let’s invest free points in physical strength.’
Once you cross the wall of Hwagyeong, the barrier to entry will be even lower when you summon the power of your time as a police officer.
In addition, if the stamina stat is transcended along with the strength stat, it will be possible to use stronger power without overexerting the body to the point of death.
I raised my stamina to 99 like that, and I felt much healthier than before the fight. Although it feels a little lacking in drawing out the power of 103’s strength.
After checking the stats, what I saw were two new characteristics. The dragon slayer and the poisonous stinger. Both are characteristics I already know, but I don’t know why the latter came about.
‘The dragon slayer trait was created by killing a transcendental dragon.’
It was impossible to inherit because it was a characteristic that was imprinted on the body. And depending on the dragon slain, its ability would also change.
The 100 Poison Non-Spit feature is a characteristic that can be acquired by mastering the 100 Poison Non-Spit skill starting from the 100 Poison Non-Spit, but I don’t understand why the 100 Poison Non-Spit skill became a master all of a sudden.
I opened the information thinking that the answer might lie in the dragon slayer characteristics.