71 Chapter 70 (1/2)
[You killed a Low-Ranked Demon.]
[You have earned 100 experience points.]
[You have collected (1) Soul of Demons.]
…..
…..
[You have earned 100 experience points.]
[You have collected (1) Soul of Demons.]
For the next two hours, he madly hunted down every Low-Ranked Demon he could find.
Afterwards, Jin-Woo confirmed the number of souls he managed to collect.
[Collected Souls of Demons: 309/10,000]
He had now completed about 3% of the quest. If he could continue hunting at this speed, then according to his calculations, he could level up in another two hours.
His current level was 61.
In the past, he needed experience points from nine rank C dungeons in order to level up from 60 to 61. And the time spent was around two days, too.
But here, he could already think about levelling up only after four hours?
'This is crazy.'
A thick smile formed on Jin-Woo's lips.
Just how long had it been since he could hunt this enthusiastically?
'Is this the first time since then?'
He couldn't really remember ever being in a similar situation since he went to the Hapjeong subway station and repeatedly cleared the first two underground floors until his level didn't want to rise anymore.
”Kkiiieeehk!”
Whenever Jin-Woo's dagger flashed, one Low-Ranked Demon fell without exception.
”Kiiaahk!”
”Kiiehk.”
”Keehhgehk, khek!”
Sometimes, even several of them, too.
In the blink of an eye, Jin-Woo killed twenty more Low-Ranked Demons.
'This is a gold mine.'
Both his experience points and the number of souls continued to rise as he continued to hunt down the demons. Not only that, there was the added bonus of loot drops, too.
A bright smile formed on Jin-Woo's face as he collected the loot.
'Their horns come out almost all the time, don't they?'
[Item: Low-Ranked Demon's Horns]
Rarity: None
Type: Miscellaneous
Two horns attached to the head of a Low-Ranked Demon. Demon's horns are used as base ingredients for high-grade magic spells and therefore can be sold at a high price.
The japtem 'demon's horns' – selling it in the Store would net him two hundred thousand Gold.
'Each of those fangs of Cerberus or whatever got me 150 grand each, but this… well, monsters of the Demon's Castle are really generous, aren't they?'
After experiencing the usefulness of the Store multiple times recently, these japtems no longer remained japtems in Jin-Woo's eyes. All the Gold earned through here would eventually become his flesh and blood later.
'I can't throw anything away.'
Feeling really chuffed, Jin-Woo sold off what could be sold and stored what should be stored as he rummaged through the remains of the demons.
In the midst of this…
'What's this?'
He found an item he hadn't seen before. And the thing with its end poking out from the busted gut of a demon was….
[Item: Entry Permit]
Rarity: ??
Type: ??
A permit allowing you to enter the 2nd floor of the Demon's Castle. Can only be used on the 1st-floor floor-transfer magic circle. (TL: I'll use the North American way of counting floors from here onwards.)
….It was a document scroll, tightly rolled up.
'An entry permit?'
When he unfurled it and took a look, he found all sorts of undecipherable drawings and letters adorning its surface. In the end, the only thing that helped him understand its purpose was the item explanation.
'An item that lets me go up from the first floor to the second, is it….?'
Could it be?
Jin-Woo took a look around.
This place was inside the Demon's Castle, but at the same time, he was also inside the Daesung Tower. If the Demon's Castle was also divided into floors like the Tower, then he'd be on the first floor.
'Since this place looked like a field-type dungeon, I didn't expect there to be different floors….'
Could it be that, just like the Daesung Tower, there were 100 floors here, too? Jin-Woo was left agape by the sheer scale of this particular dungeon.
'….It can't really be 100 floors, can it?!'
There was only one way to confirm this. And that would be to locate that transfer magic circle and see for himself.
'Now, where would this floor-transfer magic circle thing be in this place….?'
Jin-Woo's wandering gaze stopped at the pillar of light piercing the sky.
'Well, that has to be it.'
Getting there was his initial goal, but his attention got robbed by the hunting of the Low-Ranked Demons and before he knew it, he had moved further away from his destination than before.
'Should I head there now?'
He thought that this might be a good time to think about heading there. Also, he had hunted down all of the Low-Ranked Demons nearby, too.
Jin-Woo grinned brightly.
'Summon.'
The shadow soldiers stored inside his shadows via the Shadow Storage skill didn't require any chanting or whatever to summon them, unlike when he was trying to extract shadows.
Shururuk….
In front of Jin-Woo, the giant beast soldier extracted from the leader of the Ice Bear pack appeared silently.
”Growl….”
And it was a giant monster-ish bear standing on its hind legs. It was as large as a house. But to Jin-Woo, it was not much different from a mild-mannered lovable puppy.
”Get down.”
”Growl.”
When the shadow beast soldier laid down on the ground, Jin-Woo lightly jumped on top of its back.
”Giddy up!”
As soon as Jin-Woo lightly tapped the side of the beast with his leg, the shadow creature rushed towards the pillar of light with a frightening turn of speed.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!!
The massive creature also possessed incredible agility as well, and before long, the distance between him and the destination rapidly closed up.
Of course, they still encountered obstructions every now and then.
”Kiireek!”
”Keek, keek!!”
Roar!!
One thunderous swipe from the beast soldier, and the situation normalised right away.
”Ho-oh.”
Jin-Woo formed a deeply impressed expression.
'I only decided to ride it for fun, but isn't this actually pretty cool?'
Thinking that he should utilise this means of transportation often from now on, he even named his new ride right there and then.
”From now on, your name shall be Tank.”
”Roar!!”
The beast soldier, no, Tank, roared out while raising its head high up.
Was it trying to say it liked it, or hated it?
What with its incredibly powerful vocal cord, Jin-Woo couldn't really tell which was which.
In the meantime, the light pillar got closer and closer. Tank gradually slowed down and eventually, stopped before the light pillar.
”Nice work.”
Jin-Woo got down to the ground and patted Tank once, before storing the big guy back into his shadow. Then, he turned around to face the magic circle. The familiar mechanical beep rang inside his head as soon as he did.
Tti-ring.
[You have discovered floor-transfer magic circle.]
There was a magic circle carved on the ground. The light shooting out from it was reaching into the sky. Without hesitation, Jin-Woo stepped inside.
'.....'
….Nothing happened.
Jin-Woo tilted his head this way and that, before taking a few more steps to stand in the middle of the circle.
Only then another message popped up in his view.
[No floors have been opened.]
[Which floor would you like to transfer to?]
”How many floors are there?”
Of course, there was no reply.
'Is there no other way to find out how many floors are there, except for finding out for myself?'
Jin-Woo pondered for a moment.
There wasn't that much left for the experience points, so should he stay and raise his level before going up, or should he just go up and level up there?
'Unlike other instant dungeons, there is no monster respawn in this place, so staying on one floor will be inefficient in the long run.'