Solo Max-Level Newbie

Slash!

Jin-hyuk lightly stroked the tip of his finger. Immediately, droplets of blood began flowing down.

If it had been just a day ago, this wouldn’t have meant anything other than a red liquid flowing out from the body.

But it was different now.

Because now the blood itself had magic and was a medium that could make various spells and magics a reality.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve cast a barrier that distorted space.’

It wasn’t an official barrier spell that could be used inside the tower, but activating it still wasn’t easy.

Jin-hyuk places his finger on the piece of Korean paper.

Shh.

Dētórquĕo.

The Latin word written out in blood gave off a subtle glow.

‘Great. It is done.’

Next is the eastern entrance.

Jin-hyuk wrote down the words to create a barrier to cover the four cardinal directions at the museum’s entrances.

The northern entrance was the last.

Woong!

A transparent curtain covered the entire museum.

[The barrier 'Immature Dimensional Break' is activated!]

[View is being distorted.]

[Noise is reduced by 70%]

If he had better mediums, the adjective ‘Immature’ could have been removed from the effects. The items he had purchased from the local mart were too mundane, so there was a limit to what kind of magic he could do.

‘Still, this isn’t too bad.’

In addition to distorting the view of the museum, it also reduced any noise made inside it.

At the very least, it would be enough to prevent the police from interfering.

Jin-hyuk got up and stretched his hands and feet.

‘This reminds me of the old days.’

The first time he had entered the museum in-game, there had been so much commotion because no one could put up a barrier.

The whole thing became a nightmare when dozens of police cars came to the museum, resulting in a bounty placed on his head for three weeks.

A memory he couldn’t forget even if he wanted to.

‘If possible, I hope that the other people who were with me forget it at least…’

Well.

He would have to check it now and see if the barrier worked.

[You have entered the event area]

As soon as he entered the room, the thick smell of blood stung his nose.

‘As I thought…’

The world had changed, and so did the people in it.

But…

The gap between expectations and reality was more than expected.

He saw a guard splayed out on the floor. Blood was all around him, and it was clear that it was too late to help him.

‘We have a guest here.’

He wasn’t alone.

Because the wounds on the corpse came from three different weapons.

He could guess what they were after.

It must be the relics stored in the Middle Age Customs Exhibit.

More accurately, it was something that everyone who broke into this place wanted.

The Great Map of the East Island.

A map made by Kim Jeong-ho.

Of course, it wasn’t that the people wanted to see how South Korea looked. The relic’s true worth only appeared when magic was infused into it. With some magic, the old map would display information about the Tower of Trials instead.

Therefore, it was an item everyone wanted. Think about it, who wouldn’t want to know where the labyrinths and ruins were?

Who wouldn’t want to covet such an information source if allthe items and monsters were displayed on it?

Although the information it contained was limited to the first ten floors, it was still enough of a treasure to shine bright in anyone’s eyes.

Jin-hyuk smiled.

Right.

Everyone wanted it.

‘You wouldn’t know that the relics of real importance are hidden in the mud.’

Puak! Puak!

Crack!

“Kuaaak!”

“You fucking brat!”

“Let go! It is mine!”

Screams and shouts mixed with each other in the museum’s halls.

The chaotic voices echoed outside the broken display cases with relics scattered all around.

It was right then…

“Stop moving. Do not move!”

It was a man in a black suit with a side-facing ponytail.

He was a muscular man in his early 30s.

“Everyone who moves from now will die in my hands.”

The same routine threats continued. Naturally, none of it worked.

“Piss off.”

“No one here’s gonna be fooled by such a thing.”

“Wiggle one toe, and I will break your leg.”

People around the man also held out their own weapons.

It was as if they could kill for the sake of the relics.

“… I. am Oh Hyung-sok of the Dragon Head gang.”

Although gangs had almost disappeared from modern Korea, there was one that hadn’t vanished, the Dragon Head.

But…

“Puahahaha! A gangster for real! Ahhh! So scared.”

“If you’re a gangster, then try putting a knife into this stomach.”

The sarcasm didn’t stop.

“Right. As I thought, words don’t work.”

Oh Hyung-sok clenched his fist.

And…

Bulge

His arms began to swell up as he used a unique ability that turned his body as hard as a rock.

It was ‘Petrification.’

Only then did the sarcastic remarks stop.

“U-Unique ability already?”

“T-that is dangerous…’

Everyone flinched as they stepped back.

A unique ability was something that only bloomed through a special skill. It wasn’t something just anyone could deal with.

The atmosphere in the museum shifted.

“The map belongs to me.”

Oh Hyung-sok looked around.

It was clearly a way to show off his power, but then…

“Huhu. I cannot agree with that.”

An old man began to walk up behind him, making Oh Hyung-sok angry.

“Old man. Do you not see me?”

“My name isn’t old man. It’s Min Jung-woo. It means to live with affection and friendship.”

“Who the fuck cares what your name means? You need to understand what kind of place you’ve stepped into. I can break your neck and twist it as easily as a chicken’s.”

“You see, my young friend, you have a bad mouth. A tongue as sharp as a knife. Tch tch.”

Min Jung-woo clicked his tongue with a bitter expression.

It was for a short moment as his bitter expression was followed by the words,

“But would it be faster for you to try to break my neck? Or would burning you into a piece of coal be quicker?”

Wheik!

A ball of fire blazed atop Min Jung-woo’s palm.

A unique ability to wield the element of fire.

“Ma… gic?”

Right. It was magic.

Oh Hyung-sok’s eyes shook. But he couldn’t escape.

The fireball moved quickly from Min Jung-woo and engulfed Oh Hyung-sok’s body.

Kwakwakwang!

“Kiaaaak!”

Oh Hyung-sok’s body twisted in pain.

“S-save me! Help me please!’

Both his arms were as solid as rocks, but the rest of his body was still made of soft flesh. Petrification could not help as his body burned in the fire.

“Kuaaa….”

His screams didn’t last long.

Only a blackened husk was left behind with a wisp of smoke.

“Oh my, fire magic is really unfair. It was a good thing that I joined hands with you.”

A short-haired woman next to Min Jung-woo said in appreciation.

“Miss Lee Yuri. Take it.”

“Don’t worry. If anyone else interferes, I will handle everything.’

Lee Yuri then placed the black statue that she had been holding in her hands on the floor.

Kukuku.

The statue began to grow in size, its figure was that of a jackal’s head atop a human body.

It was the ‘Incarnation of Anubis,’ a special exhibit from Egypt.

“Grrr…”

Lee Yuri’s Anubis stretched out its long spear in front of him.

“Anyone who moves from now will be regarded as an enemy. Do you get it? I’ll order him to chew your heads off.”

Lee Yuri smiled brightly.

With the appearance of a monster that was easily 2 meters tall, no one even thought of moving. Besides, there were also two Awoken people who developed special abilities here.

A wizard and summoner.

Both were formidable opponents.

“Damn it.”

“What kind of things had to happen for it to turn out like that? They’re Awakened people already.”

“I am going to give up on the map. Just take all of it!”

They couldn’t lift a single finger because moving meant death.

But…

Step.

Someone walked past the crowd of scared people.

Crack.

The sound of feet stepping on the grass could be heard clearly.

“You there, dude who lost his fear. Do I look like I am joking?”

Lee Yuri’s expression turned cold.

“Grrr!”

The jackal’s legs moved.

However, the man ignored Lee Yuri’s warning.

“Oh my. You people made a mess of this place. Do people no longer have any basic manners when touching ancient pieces of art?”

Jin-hyuk picked up a picture that had fallen to the ground and brushed the dirt off it.

“I am glad this didn’t break.”

If the items were damaged too severely, then they couldn’t be used. Fortunately, this item escaped that fate.

“If you move… I said that you would die. Did you not hear me?!”

Lee Yuri shouted out in anger and, at the same time…

Woong!

The Incarnation of Anubis leaned its body back and threw its spear.

To be precise, it was more of a javelin.

The thrown projectile cut through the air with a terrifying explosive sound as it moved several times faster than sound.

But before the spear could reach its target.

Kwang!

Jin-hyuk punched aside the flying javelin with his fist.

The spear spun in the air and fell harmlessly to the ground.

“Insane!”

“W-what did he just do?’

“He just knocked that spear out of the way. No, but how does this make sense? He didn’t avoid it but hit it instead?”

“He hit a spear made of steel… wouldn’t it be normal if his fist got crushed instead?”

The people watching were all shocked.

‘I don’t know how good my stats are right now, so I had no choice but to react like that.’

A player who ate the fruit from the Mangrove of Greed would gain 3 additional stat points.

On the other hand, he had a whopping 12 more stat points.

“What are you gonna do now? Looks like your dog’s only weapon is gone?”

Jin-hyuk shrugged while looking at Lee Yuri.

“Who…? Who said there is just one statue?”

Lee Yuri pulled four more statues from her bag.

This kid. How the hell did she steal so many?

She was using relics that she had ‘borrowed’ from other nations to display that she had power.

“You will get scolded by the Pharaoh.”

“Is this the time to joke around?”

He wasn’t kidding, though.

It was written that touching the relics of Egypt would bring down something akin to a curse.

The kind of curse where the accursed would suffer excruciating pain.

[Holy Relic Incarnation of Anubis (replica) is manifesting!]

Kukukuku!

“Grrrr…”

“Kuaaaa!”

“Grrrng!”

“Kung! Kung!”

Four more so-called incarnations of Anubis appeared.

They were armed with a sword, shield, spear, mace, and halberd and had their teeth bared.

“So? Think you can still joke around?”

Lee Yuri wore a smile as she showed off all her cards.

“Very good. I am quite surprised.”

Considering that it was tough to maintain control over the magic when summoning just one, being able to summon five wasn’t an easy feat.

Even the old man with his magic was exceptional.

Surprisingly, there seemed to be skilled people around.

“… quite surprised?”

Lee Yuri’s eyes twitched at those words.

“Right. Exactly between quite surprised and a little surprised.”

“Don’t act pretentious with me. I know that anyone would want to run away now.”

“You think so?”

Actually, that was just what any normal person would see.

Then.

Let’s show his card now.

Let them judge if this was a lie or not. Jin-hyuk opened the paper in his hand.

[Magic has been infused into the sacred relic of 'Pine and Tiger (replica)']

[The King of Mountain Appears!]

[Era: Joseon]

[Identity: Unknown]

All that was known was that it was the most feared being of a certain era.

“Kooooooo!”

A tiger manifested itself from the piece of paper and roared loudly. The air shook with the sound of its roar.

Roar!

It was at least 3 meters tall, and its muscles rippled as it moved. An indescribable feeling of intimidation shone from its bright yellow eyes.

“N-No…. way.”

Lee Yuri bit her lips.

It wasn’t just materializing, but he made the original appear.

Until now, various uses for relics had been discovered, but she had never heard of such a method to use one.

Aside from that, this magic…

Shudder!

The feeling of the magic on her skin felt distinctly different.

It was different from just transforming stone statues into giant monsters.

The painting depicted the power of the tiger that ruled over the mountain in a long past era. The entirety of the feeling of that power reproduced.

5 to 1

‘No…success.’

The thought of winning didn’t even register itself in her mind.

“There is no such thing as a desert jackal attacking a mountain lion.”

Jin-hyuk stroked the tiger on its head.