Chapter 149 - Chapter 149 (1/2)

'Huh...!'

He had been using his Class-specific skills constantly, but they showed no signs of budging until now. But then, their levels all went up in one go?!

Ba-thump, ba-thump!!

Jin-Woo's heart began pounding really hard for the first time in a while.

Currently, there were only two other people inside the boss chamber, and that would be Yu Jin-Ho and Woo Jin-Cheol. Since both of them weren't the type to needlessly complain about small matters, he decided to not to mind their presence and summoned out his Status Window.

'Stat Window.'

Tti-ring.

Along with the familiar mechanical bleep, all the information about him, starting from his level to every item he was wearing, and even his current physical status, appeared to fill up his view.

Jin-Woo's gaze stopped at the 'Class-specific Skills' list.

[Class-specific Skills]

Active Skills

- Shadow Extraction Lv. 2

- Shadow Storage Lv. 2

- Sovereign's Territory Lv. 2

- Shadow Exchange Lv. 2

'It's for real.'

Hearing about the truth and actually seeing it were two different things. Jin-Woo clenched his fist tighter, especially from the fact that the level for 'Shadow Exchange' had gone up.

'Nice!'

The Shadow Exchange skill possessed such an endless potential but he was feeling frustrated by the limitation posed by its lengthy cooldown time.

'The description said that cooldown will change according to the skill level, right?'

With this, his frustration should go down a little.

This was today's biggest gain for him. He was far more pleased about the skill Shadow Exchange being enhanced rather than his stalled level rising up again.

'Should I see how much of it has changed now?'

Feeling like a kid pulling the wrapping off his new present, Jin-Woo accessed the information on the skill Shadow Exchange.

Tti-ring.

[Skill: Shadow Exchange Lv. 2]

Class-specific....

….Once activated, you must wait two hours of 'cooldown' period before being able to use the skill again.

The 'cooldown' period will change according to the Skill's level.

'…..!!'

Reduction of one hour!!

Just by going up one level, the cooldown time had decreased by one-third. Jin-Woo could barely hide his excitement now.

'One hour's gone after going up one level.'

A simple calculation told him that there was a high possibility of yet another hour being chopped off from the cooldown time with the next level up of the skill. And, what if he raised the level of this skill one more time after that?

'It means, regardless of where I am, mom and Jin-Ah will never find themselves in trouble....'

Just thinking about that made his entire body shiver. That was the most important thing for Jin-Woo, after all. Maybe his excitement showed up on his face, Yu Jin-Ho asked him a question with a jovial smile.

"Hyung-nim? Did something good happen?"

"Mm?"

Only then did Jin-Woo realise that Yu Jin-Ho had come closer to him.

'I was too focused on the Status Window, wasn't I....?'

He also could see Section Chief Woo Jin-Cheol walking towards this way behind Yu Jin-Ho as well. Jin-Woo grinned and closed the Status Window. Even if these two men weren't the types to raise a fuss over every single thing, there was no reason for him to look like a madman to their eyes, either.

"Yeah, something like that."

"That's cool, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho's wits had become a lot quicker after following Jin-Woo around for a while, so he didn't try to dig in anymore. Instead, his attention shifted to the sight right next to them.

"Wowsers."

This would be Yu Jin-Ho's first time ever seeing an actual rank A dungeon's boss. This monster's upper torso looked human-ish, but the lower part looked like a sea snake.

It looked so nonsensically huge from afar, but now that he got to take a look up close, it seemed even bigger and really disgusting to behold, as well.

It was only natural that he couldn't close his slack jaw after seeing such a humongous monster.

'I know that hyung-nim has entered several other high-ranking dungeons prior to this one, so does that mean....'

Did that mean he killed creatures like this one every time he entered such a Gate?

Gulp.

Yu Jin-Ho swallowed some dry saliva. For some reason, his hyung-nim looked even more imposing and cool to his eyes today. And he felt incredibly proud of himself, as it was him and not someone else standing beside such an incredible man.

"Hyung-nim!!"

"Mm?"

"I respect you."

"What?"

"It's nothing."

'Silly kid.'

Jin-Woo stared wordlessly at Yu Jin-Ho, and the latter averted his gaze after realising how embarrassed he was feeling right now. Meanwhile, Woo Jin-Cheol next to them was also stewing in a bottomless shock at the moment.

'I knew Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's skills were amazing, but this....'

To think, he'd be able to easily take care of a boss-level Naga like this.

Other raid teams would begin tearing their hair out after seeing this spectacle. Especially when they would need the full participation of tankers, damage dealers, and Healers just to barely bring down a monster of this magnitude.

'….....'

Woo Jin-Cheol walked up close to the remains of the boss-level Naga and lightly tapped on the monster's scales. He could definitely sense the steel-like hardness through his fingertips.

Scales of Naga boasted amazing hardness and they were often used in the manufacturing of all sorts of defensive items, such as various armours and shields.

'But, such scales were....'

Some part of the scales on the lower torso of the monster were crushed and torn into pieces as if they were made out of paper. That was the aftermath left behind by Jin-Woo's skill, 'Violent Slash'.

'Being able to produce such devastating destructive power, while using nothing more than a couple of shortswords.'

Cold sweat formed on Woo Jin-Cheol's forehead as he observed the monster's corpse. What a great relief that the youth was their ally and not an enemy.

It was then, Jin-Woo's voice came from behind him.

"....Can you step aside for a bit, please?"

Woo Jin-Cheol was too deep in his thoughts and couldn't properly hear that, so he quickly looked behind him in a fluster.

"Y-yes?"

"I'm trying to create another summoned creature, but Chief Woo, you are too close, you see."

"Ah."

Yu Jin-Ho had already moved to a far enough location and was busy gesturing at Woo Jin-Cheol to come over there.

"M-my apologies."

Woo Jin-Cheol offered an appropriate-sounding apology and quickly stepped aside. He kept staring with great anticipation, though. He had seen how the summoned creatures were created during his trip here, but this would be the first time seeing a boss-level monster become a summon.

'Could this huge thing become a summoned creature as how it looks?'

Even Yu Jin-Ho's eyes were sparkling as he waited for the result. Even though he was subjected to two men's boiling anticipation, Jin-Woo was utterly relaxed as he activated Shadow Extraction.

'Rise up.'

The shadow of the boss-level monster answered the call of its new owner.

Kiiiaahhh-!!

A hand emerged out from the shadow and grabbed hold of the ground, before dragging its body out from the darkness. However, the newly summoned creature was way smaller in size than what the audience was expecting to see.

As a matter of fact, it was only about the same size as the summoned creatures created out of regular Nagas. Maybe, it was slightly larger, but that was about it.

'Haha....'

Woo Jin-Cheol was so tense that his palms were soaked in sweat, but now, he could let off a wry chuckle. This result was perhaps an inevitable one.

How could a summon created from borrowing the dead monster's powers be similar to the actual thing? That would be just about the right size, whether that criteria being its actual power or the physical size.

Woo Jin-Cheol felt relieved for some reason after seeing the summon and its comparatively miniaturised size.

'Maybe, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's powers have a defined and clear ceiling?'

Even if that was the case, Hunter Seong's own combat abilities easily exceeded one's imaginations, so one could never see him as an easy opponent at all.

Quite different from Woo Jin-Cheol's thoughts, though, Jin-Woo was shouting out in elation at the unexpected jackpot he just stumbled onto.

[The Sovereign's voice has roused the fighting spirit of the deceased.]

[You have succeeded in strengthening the shadow!]