Chapter 9

Crack!

A dry cracking sound, like stones grinding against one another, rang out.

The Gargoyle began moving cautiously, observing Han Siwoo’s movements.

After all, he was the opponent who had injured its sturdy arms.

Like the Gargoyle, Han Siwoo was also watching it carefully, gripping his sword with both hands.

Considering the wounds on its arms, attacks should work on its other body parts as well. But killing it instantly with a single strike is probably impossible.

He couldn’t cut it completely in half.

He couldn’t pierce straight through it either.

Then……

“Tch.”

Han Siwoo clicked his tongue lazily and inhaled deeply.

The instant he had filled his lungs to their limit, he kicked off the ground, and his body shot straight toward the Gargoyle.

—Kaaak!

The Gargoyle let out a sharp cry and swung its arm at Han Siwoo.

It attacked while retreating backward.

Han Siwoo lowered his body as if dropping flat to the ground and effortlessly avoided the attack. Then he kicked off the floor once more.

Boom!

Although the Gargoyle moved backward, the distance between them had actually grown shorter.

At that moment, the Gargoyle’s claws came crashing down in a frantic strike.

As the attack flew toward his shoulder, Han Siwoo violently swept his sword upward.

Clang!

With a sound like tearing metal, the Gargoyle’s attack was deflected.

Without missing that instant, Han Siwoo rotated his sword, and his eyes flashed.

His target was the exact center of the Gargoyle’s collarbone.

It was a relatively weak point in the Gargoyle’s defenses.

“Seup!”

Along with the sound of him inhaling, his sword thrust forward in a straight line.

Then, with a horrifying crunch, the tip of the sword dug into the Gargoyle’s body.

But, just as Han Siwoo had expected, it failed to pierce all the way through.

—Kieek! Kaaak!

Instead, sensing that it was in danger, the Gargoyle began attempting to harden its entire body.

The moment Han Siwoo realized what was happening, his eyes widened.

He raised his foot high and stomped down on the ground.

Kwaang!

The ground shook violently beneath his foot, and a powerful rebound burst forth.

At the same time, Han Siwoo poured all his strength into his waist and elbows.

Before the Gargoyle could finish hardening its body—

Craaaack!

With a sound like splitting rock, Han Siwoo’s sword drove deep into the Gargoyle’s chest.

If it had been anyone else, they would have been thrown into great confusion.

Since the sword was embedded in the hardened body of the Gargoyle, pulling it out would have been extremely difficult.

But a cold smile appeared at the corners of Han Siwoo’s lips.

Now it’s simple.

The Gargoyle had already become as hard as solid rock.

Unless one possessed a massive weapon, bringing down a Gargoyle in that state was no easy task.

That was what made it such a troublesome monster, and why people avoided fighting it with swords.

But to Han Siwoo, there was no easier opponent than this.

Clench!

Han Siwoo gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands and smiled ominously.

Then he clenched his molars.

Boom!

The instant he kicked off the ground, the Gargoyle, which had turned into a stone statue, shook violently.

But that lasted only a moment.

When Han Siwoo kicked off the ground again, the Gargoyle’s body rose into the air.

At the same time, Han Siwoo smiled chillingly and swung the sword in his hands with all his strength.

No—

He swung the Gargoyle that was impaled on the sword.

“Die!”

Kuwaaaaaaaaaang!

As if he were swinging a mace—

The moment the Gargoyle embedded in the sword was slammed into the ground, a thunderous explosion rang out, and its body bounced violently upward from the impact.

The Gargoyle’s hardened state had already been dispelled.

The impact inflicted upon it in that instant had far exceeded its defensive capabilities.

I did it!

Realizing this, Han Siwoo smiled coldly.

The moment the Gargoyle crashed into the ground, he released the sword and threw himself forward.

Before the monster could hit the ground and attempt to harden itself again—

He had to finish it off.

Tap!

Han Siwoo grabbed the sword embedded in the Gargoyle, which was still floating in midair, and grinned.

Then he spoke to the Gargoyle, which was struggling and letting out strange cries.

“Stay still.”

The moment he finished speaking—

The Gargoyle plummeted toward the ground and slammed into the floor.

The sword Han Siwoo was riding on top of it—

Kwa-jijijik!

—pierced completely through the Gargoyle’s body and became embedded in the ground.

“……Hoo!”

Crack, crack!

Fragments of stone burst from the ground and rained down in every direction.

Han Siwoo, who was taking the full impact, slowly rose to his feet.

The convulsions of the Gargoyle, which had been impaled in the ground together with the sword, gradually subsided.

And when those convulsions finally stopped completely—

Congratulations.YouhaveclearedtheSecondFlooroftheTempleofTranscendence.Congratulations. You have cleared the Second Floor of the Temple of Transcendence.

Youhaveacquired50clearpoints.You have acquired 50 clear points.

Youhaveacquired15bonuspoints.You have acquired 15 bonus points.

PointsHeld—1,168PtPoints Held — 1,168 Pt

At the message window that appeared before him, Han Siwoo plopped down onto the ground.

After breathing heavily, he shook his head from side to side.

Damn, am I getting old, too? Using my strength is getting exhausting now……

His body belonged to a young man in his twenties, but his mind had grown old.

He gave a bitter smile at that fact, then stood up and checked the reward list.

HeartFragmentoftheSpireShardHeart Fragment of the Spire Shard

Thefragmentofthefirsttowerevercarvedpossessedlife.The fragment of the first tower ever carved possessed life.

Whenthetowercollapsed,itlostthatlife.When the tower collapsed, it lost that life.

Nevertheless,itsheartremained.Nevertheless, its heart remained.

Althoughitlostitsbodyanditsheartbeat,Although it lost its body and its heartbeat,

itspowermusthaveremained.its power must have remained.

Twentyfragmentscanbeexchangedforthe‘HeartoftheSpireShard’.Twenty fragments can be exchanged for the ‘Heart of the Spire Shard’.

FragmentoftheMegalith’sRingFragment of the Megalith’s Ring

Abraceletmadebypolishingafragmentofagiganticlivingrock.A bracelet made by polishing a fragment of a gigantic living rock.

Thewilloftherockiscontainedwithinitinitsentirety.The will of the rock is contained within it in its entirety.

Fifteenfragmentscanbeexchangedforthe‘Megalith’sRing’.Fifteen fragments can be exchanged for the ‘Megalith’s Ring’.

StatUnlock(2)—Additionalsealedstatswillbeunlocked.Stat Unlock (2) — Additional sealed stats will be unlocked.

Han Siwoo scanned the descriptions with an intrigued expression.

The Black Lord’s Sword and the Dead King’s Armor were the same.

He had never even heard of the items currently displayed before him.

Are they unique rare items? I’ve never possessed anything like this before……

The Black Lord’s Sword had an attack power of 51–66.

With performance like that, it was at least on the level of a unique-grade item—something that an Awakener above level 300 would have to run through a dungeon countless times to acquire.

If that was the case, then even if Han Siwoo had never obtained one himself, he should at least have heard of it once.

But with the Temple of Transcendence existing, is it really strange that there are items I don’t know about?

With a convinced expression, Han Siwoo closed the item window.

In any case, farming for the reward items on the Second Floor was impossible for him right now.

It might become possible if he leveled up a little more.

My entire body is sore after killing just one of them. There’s no need to overdo it.

An Awakener’s body was their greatest asset.

Would things be any different now that he had become a Transcendent?

“Stat Unlock.”

HanSiwoo(Transcendent)—Lv.60Han Siwoo (Transcendent) — Lv. 60

Class—NoneClass — None

Title—NoneTitle — None

Strength—93(+27)Strength — 93 (+27)

Vitality—38(+18)Vitality — 38 (+18)

MagicPower—1(+18)Magic Power — 1 (+18)

Taking his Transcendent stats into account, his actual level was now well over 90.

It was an incredible achievement accomplished in just one day since his awakening and transformation into a Transcendent.

Han Siwoo unconsciously smiled and straightened his chest.

Good. Let’s keep moving at this pace.

Han Siwoo immediately left the Temple of Transcendence.

He had two Spirit Stones, but for now, he didn’t feel any urgent need to use them.

After returning to his room, he checked the time.

It wasn’t even the end of lunchtime yet.

I decided to reach level 100 today at the very least, so I should get moving right away.

He had only entered the Temple of Transcendence because he had come home to change his clothes.

Now that he had accomplished his secondary objective, it was time to pursue his main one.

But first, I should stop by the Center. There are a few things I need to buy.

There was a chance he might end up covered in filth again, just as he had been when he was drenched in the Adult Arachnid’s bodily fluids.

Therefore, he intended to visit the Center to purchase a cleaning spell and a few other necessary items.

Besides, he had no intention of letting the proof of his dungeon clears sit around unused. He needed to exchange them for money as soon as possible.

The Lizardman Dungeon proof is worth 1.6 million won, and the Arachnid Dungeon proof is worth 2 million won. After taxes, I’ll have a little over 3 million won.

It was a generous amount for a morning of hard labor.

But Han Siwoo had no intention of being satisfied with that much money.

As the eldest son, he would feel much more at ease if he accumulated a larger fortune to support his family.

I’ll earn more money and live happily. I’ll also become stronger and prevent the disaster. I have no intention of experiencing that damned future again.

A world in which most of humanity had died and vanished.

No one except a truly insane person would want such a world.

After exchanging the proof for money, Han Siwoo entered the shop inside the Center.

“Please show me the basic mage skill books.”

“Yes. Which ones would you like?”

“All of them.”

“Gasp!”

Han Siwoo left the shop carrying several basic skill books.

Fire Bolt, Water Ball, and Lesser Heal.

They were three basic skill books, but the spells they contained would prove useful.

That expenditure hurts.

Even though they were basic skill books, their prices were substantial.

As proof, most of the money he had earned from exchanging his proof that day had disappeared.

This is about the limit of what I can buy at the Center. Rare skill books occasionally appear at auctions, but those have nothing to do with me.

Truly rare and powerful skill books were usually used by the people who obtained them.

There was a limit to the performance of items that could be purchased with money.

That was why, no matter how wealthy someone was, there was a limit to how strong they could become without putting in effort themselves.

Unless they poured in an absurd amount of money.

In any case, I should start investing a little in magic as well.

He had the passive skill Magic Awakening, so it would be a waste not to use it.

Han Siwoo’s principle was simple: if something could be put to use, then he would use it.

Since I’m here, should I have a cup of coffee before I go? It would be a waste not to.

Free coffee was a service provided for visitors to the Center.

He poured two packets of instant coffee into a paper cup, blew on it gently, and began drinking.

After taking a short break and looking around, he rose to his feet.

I’ve had my coffee, so I should get going. I have nothing else to do here.

Han Siwoo stood up and began heading out of the Center.

But the moment he encountered several people—

Han Siwoo came to an abrupt stop.

“……!”

There were three men and one woman.

The group of four had happened to enter the Center just as Han Siwoo was leaving, and they crossed paths.

They quickly passed by, but Han Siwoo had no choice but to stand there as though his feet had been nailed to the floor.

……Suyeon.

The woman among them.

The woman he had once loved.

The woman who had lost her life before the final battle, whom he had ultimately been unable to protect and had been forced to let go.

Han Siwoo stood there blankly for a moment before turning his head.

He wanted to run to her immediately.

But……

Let’s stop.

The current version of her didn’t know him.

Approaching her without reason would only make her wary of him.

After calming himself with those thoughts, Han Siwoo left the Center.

Peace Park.

That was where Han Siwoo intended to spend the rest of the day until evening.

While chewing on the beef jerky he had bought at the Center as emergency rations, Han Siwoo swallowed the food in his mouth.

That concluded his lunch.

WouldyouliketoentertheCorruptedBulvegaDungeon?Would you like to enter the Corrupted Bulvega Dungeon?

RecommendedLevel—91Recommended Level — 91

Some called it a corrupted fairy, while others described it simply as a monster.

The Bulvega was a monster from the folklore of a region in England.

But to Han Siwoo, it was nothing more than a monster for leveling up.

Although he did have another objective in mind as well.

Whoosh—

After entering the dungeon, Han Siwoo immediately summoned the Dark Knight.

—Did you call for me, my lord?

Han Siwoo returned the sword to the Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight, having received his sword back, rolled his eyes around for a moment before lowering his head.

—Yes. I shall hold on to my sword for a while.

“No, I’m returning it to you. Don’t worry.”

—Gasp!

The Dark Knight let out an exclamation of emotion and excitement.

Perhaps afraid that Han Siwoo might change his mind, he hurriedly sheathed the sword.

Han Siwoo looked at the sight with pity and stretched.

Crack, crack—!

“Whew, I’m feeling sluggish. Let’s finish this quickly.”

—Yes, my lord!