Chapter 73 (2/2)
. And a giant piece of wood the size of a grown man . .
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Jinwoo instantly knew which one of these was the Fragment of the World Tree . He stared at the giant piece of lumber, and the corresponding information popped up . .
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Fragment of the World Tree.
Rarity: ??.
Type: Ingredient.
Volkhan’s Club was made out of wood from the World Tree . This piece of wood remained after the contaminated parts were removed from the club . The wood obtained from the World Tree contains a strong magic power and is the highest-class material for crafting magic items . .
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‘The ingredient for the highest-class magic items . ’.
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Jinwoo wanted to know just what he could make with this thing . Unfortunately, that information was nowhere to be found . Still, it was certain this was not an ordinary item . Standing close to it, he was able to feel a powerful energy emanating from the piece of wood . .
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‘I have a feeling… this wood will be useful somehow . ’.
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Instead of selling it, Jinwoo put the Fragment of the World Tree into his inventory . He pored over the other items’ information . .
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The Monarch of Demons’ Earrings.
Rarity: S.
Type: Accessory.
Strength +20, Constitution +20.
Set: The Crown Jewels of the Monarch of Demons[2].
1 . The Monarch of Demons’ Earrings.
2 . The Monarch of Demons’ Necklace.
3 . The Monarch of Demons’ Ring.
Set Bonus:.
1 . ??? (2 Items).
2 . ??? (3 Items).
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‘A set item?’.
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While the base effects were similar to the A-rank Gatekeeper’s Necklace, the Monarch of Demons’ Earrings had an unknown set effect . Even without knowing the set effects, it was an amazing item, increasing both strength and constitution by 20 points . .
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‘Since one level-up is equivalent to five stat points . ’.
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In that line of thought, this was the same as leveling up eight times . With a happy heart, Jinwoo picked up the earrings . .
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Would you like to equip the “Monarch of Demons’ Earrings”?.
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‘Equip . ’.
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Like always, the earrings disappeared and its effects were applied to Jinwoo . He smiled in satisfaction at his increased stats . .
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The Crown Jewels of the Monarch of Demons . .
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‘I’m sure the other pieces will drop here . ’.
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With a name that included the word “Demon”, it was to easy to understand that the full set would drop from a place called Demon Castle . Just what would the set effects be? Even though he had obtained only one part, Jinwoo’s expectations were great . However, his smile would soon disappear . .
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‘This is…?’.
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Marble of Avarice.
Rarity: A.
Type: Magic Tool.
Effect ‘Desire for Destruction’: Your magic damage is doubled . .
It’s a marble made from the blood of the archdemon Volkhan . The marble will empower the wielder’s magic and increase the destruction caused . .
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It was a red ball the size of a billiard ball . Jinwoo held the Marble of Avarice in his hand . There was no change to his stats . He pulled up the skill information on the only thing he had that might qualify as magic, his class-specific shadow skills, but there were no changes . The limits on the number of shadows remained the same . .
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‘Is it not something I could benefit from?’.
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Jinwoo tilted his head . .
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Doubling the magic damage . Its effects were incredible . .
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Out in the real world, magic tools that empowered the user’s magic were prohibitively expensive . Because of that, they were only used by a handful of the Mage-class Hunters . However, Jinwoo had never heard of an artifact that increased your offensive power by a 100% . If something like this was found, it would’ve made waves across the entire world . There was no way someone had kept something like that hidden . .
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And here he was, holding an item that doubled one’s magic damage . .
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‘Still, it’s useless to me . ’.
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An item that simply increased magic damage did nothing for him . After all, the shadow skills technically did not do damage on their own . His offensive skills weren’t even magic . If only an item that increased intelligence appeared . .
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‘Tsk . ’.
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While he tossed the marble up and down disappointedly, the Shadow Soldiers had finished the trash mobs and gathered before him . The fastest among them was Ygritte . .
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Three in his right hand . Three in his left hand . .
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The knight walked up to Jinwoo and placed six demons’ heads in front of the Hunter . .
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“ . ”.
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Jinwoo scratched his temple while looking at the kneeling knight . .
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“Could you please stop doing that?”.
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Of course, the respectfully bowed head of the knight did not reply . .
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“Because when you do that…”.
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Jinwoo was not sure when the other knight managed to do it, but Iron had cut off Volkhan’s head and dragged it over to his master as well . .
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“ . He also does it . ”.
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‘I mean, I’m the one who took it down, right?’.
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Jinwoo fixed his gaze on Iron and sighed deeply . Looking at the kneeling giant knight, an interesting idea occurred to him . .
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‘What if I can give the Marble of Avarice to one of them like how I was able to use Iron’s shield?’.
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Right on cue, the Shadow Mages were slowly approaching Jinwoo behind the infantry . Compared to the knights or even the infantry, the mages were rather slow . Jinwoo called over the nearest one to him . When he gestured with his hand, the indicated mage slowly walked over to his master . .
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‘ . Maybe I should go to him . ’.
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Jinwoo shook his head then quickly walked over to the mage . He placed the Marble of Avarice onto the mage’s hand, then pointed to the building he had used to jump towards Volkhan . As the Shadow Soldiers moved according to his will, he did not particularly need to explain the details . .
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Jinwoo gave the signal,.
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“Fire . ”.
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With it, a fireball twice the size of what he was used to seeing appeared in the mage’s hands . .
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‘Whoa!’.
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Jinwoo’s eyes widened . Ignoring his shock, the fireball flew from the mage’s hands . .
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WOOOOOSH-!.
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BAAAAAANG!.
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“Wha-!”.
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Jinwoo’s mouth opened wide . The building was swallowed by the explosion and blew apart like a toy house . The fire consuming the building did not look like it could be put out easily . .
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Flaaaare!.
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Watching the fireworks caused by the mage’s spell, Jinwoo quickly took back the Marble of Avarice . He pored over the item information, looking for a specific phrase,.
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‘It’s not there . It’s really not there . ’.
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No matter how much he looked up and down on the description, the item did not say that it was untradable . Did that mean he could sell this?.
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gulp.
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Jinwoo looked back at the burning building . .
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flaaare!.
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Even few parts of the building that remained standing fell eventually with a crashing sound . Jinwoo smiled at the destruction . .
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‘This thing…’.
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It’ll drive the Mage-class Hunters crazy . His disappointment was nowhere to be seen, replaced by an anticipation . .
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A bright afternoon . .
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“The young man in 902?”.
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A middle-aged woman thought for a moment then replied,.
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“Hmm, I’m not sure . Haven’t seen him around lately . ”.
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“Ah, okay . Thank you . ”.
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Hyun Gicheol bowed his head . It had been four days since the deputy had been waiting for Jinwoo near his house, but the man had not ran into the Hunter . He had been making vegetable juice nonstop . With a sigh, he took out his phone . .
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ring~ ring~.
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Someone picked up . .
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- “Oy, Gicheol . ”.
“Chief . ”.
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It was Chief Ahn Sangmin . .
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“I haven’t seen Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim . The neighbors also said they haven’t seen him recently . ”.
- “Really?”.
“Yes, sir . ”.
- “Well, can’t be helped . Start coming to the office tomorrow, then . ”.
“Yes, sir . Understood . ”.
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click.
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Ahn Sangmin hung up and tilted his head . Where did Hunter Sung Jinwoo go? The man fell off the grid few days ago . Thinking that he might be purposely avoiding their calls, Hyun Gicheol was sent to the Hunter’s residence but could not find him . The Second Management Division Chief began to worry if something had gone wrong . .
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‘Well, not sure who’s worrying about whom . ’.
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Still, the man felt restless . .
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tap tap.
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Someone tapped him on the shoulder . Turning around, he saw Hunter Park Heejin behind to him . .
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“According to his little sister, he’s gone on a trip with a friend for about a week . ”.
“Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim?”.
“Yes . ”.
“If that’s the case… I don’t think the destination is on Earth . ”.
“Huh?”.
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Park Heejin was taken aback . Ahn Sangmin quickly explained,.
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“There’s no record of him leaving the country . And there are also no records of him pulling funds or using his card from the bank . ”.
“You can obtain that kind of information?”.
“Well, it’s our job to keep an eye on Hunters . ”.
“Oh my . ”.
“On top of that, according to the Association’s tracking records, the last place he was noted in was in the middle of the city, five days ago . Isn’t it all too mysterious?”.
“Do you think he got kidnapped?”.
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The moment the words left her mouth, she realized how stupid they sounded . The pair met each other’s eyes and laughed . .
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Just who was Sung Jinwoo? He was the man who solo cleared a high-level Dungeon, a Red Gate at that . Ahn Sangmin scratched his cheek and spoke,.
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“If you want to nab Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim, you’ll need to call in that Chinese special forces unit . The one solely comprised of Hunters . ”.
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Park Heejin nodded in agreement . Stifling his laughter, Ahn Sangmin became curious and asked a question,.
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“By the way, how did you find out that he was going on a trip?”.
“Oh, it was Han Songyi . We still keep in touch . She goes to the same school as Sung Jinwoo-ssi’s little sister, so I asked her to find out . ”.
“Aha…”.
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With that, the pair’s conversation was over . But they were thinking the same thing,.
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‘Just where did the man go?’.
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Translator’s Notes:.
[1]: Lots of item names.
1 . “Monarch of Demons’ Earrings” (악마 군주의 귀고리): Pretty literal . The word used for “monarch” is the same words as “Monarch of Shadows” . “Demon” 악마 + “monarch/king/lord” 군주 + “earrings” 귀고리 . One thing to note here, just like “Shadow Monarch vs . Monarch of Shadows”, 악마군주 is more closely read “Demon Monarch or Demonic Monarch” . I am making a purposeful style choice to flip the words . .
2 . “Marble of Avarice” (탐욕의 구슬): Pretty literal . Same word “Avarice” as Volkhan’s title . “greed/avarice” 탐욕 + “marble” 구슬.
3 . “Fragment of the World Tree” (세계수의 파편): Also literal . “world tree” 세계수 + “fragment” 파편 . “World tree” can also refer to Yggdrasil from nordic mythology, but I don’t know if it fit the context of the story . .
[2]: Original korean says the “Accessory Series of the Monarch of Demons” (악마 군주 장신구 시리즈) . I styled it up a bit . .