'8 minutes...'

Gluttony would last for another 8 minutes. He needed to defeat Shurak before the time was up.

'I have plenty of time.'

Kang Oh grinned.

For the past 5 minutes, Kang Oh had been inflicting damage onto Shurak whilst avoiding its magical and aura attacks.

His attacks were akin to bashing it with an iron pipe, rather than dabbing it with a cotton ball.

In other words, he'd struck with powerful blows.

He'd been attacking Shurak for 5 minutes whilst empowered by Gluttony, so even a level 200 like it couldn't remain unscathed.

Shurak's current HP was extremely low.

Whack.

With Kang Oh's most recent attack, its HP dropped even further.

[Chimera Shurak's HP has dropped below 10%.]

[It has gone berserk.]

Kuoh!

The lion and goat heads roared once more. At the same time, their eyes radiated in a red hue.

'As expected, it did go berserk.'

All of the chimeras he'd fought here had gone berserk, so he'd expected Shurak, the boss monster, to be capable of the same feat.

Kurwa!

The berserk Shurak let out a bizarre cry, and swung its swords indiscriminately.

Shurak bombarded Kang Oh with its attacks, all of which were amplified by Berserk.

"Doesn't matter."

Kang Oh's eyes gleamed.

He narrowly dodged Shurak's swords, and quickly appeared right in front of it.

"Huahp."

Kang Oh swung downwards.

Tempest Tiger!

The skill, empowered by Gluttony, erupted from his sword.

Boom!

Thud.

The Tempest Tiger pounced onto Shurak, causing it to fall.

Whoosh!

A giant whirlwind swept past Shurak's body.

Shards of light spilled from its body, and said shards rose up into the air, dispersing into powder.

Despite that, Shurak was still alive. However, it didn't have enough strength to stand up anymore.

Kang Oh walked over its chest and raised his sword.

Gyaruoh.

Ummeeh.

Shurak tried attacking, despite the state of its body, perhaps due to the effects of Berserk.

"This is the end."

Kang Oh thrust his sword into Shurak's heart.

Stab!

Black shards of light popped out.

He'd inflicted a critical hit through Fang Bearing Blade, which ignored all defenses.

The light in both the lion and goat head's eyes dimmed.

[You have defeated Chimera Shurak.]

[You are the first to defeat it.]

[As a reward, it will drop the highest rank equipment it has to offer.]

[Gluttony is active.]

[Stats have been stolen.]

[Physical +1]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

"Wow, Mr. Kang Oh."

Eder came rushing over once Kang Oh finished off Shurak.

"You're amazing."

He gave him a two-handed thumbs up.

However, Kang Oh didn't pay him any mind.

'There's still 6 minutes left...'

He still had some time left on Gluttony. If that's the case, then he needed to make use of it before it wore off.

"Eder. Stay here and keep watch."

Kang Oh planned on killing as many monsters as he could with his remaining 6 minutes so he could steal stats.

"Excuse me? What are you..."

But before Eder could finish, Kang Oh dashed towards the entrance to the boss room.

He was extremely fast.

Clang!

Kang Oh kicked the door open whilst maintaining his speed and exited the boss room.

"Uh... Take care!"

Eder waved his hand.

* * *

Kang Oh returned after about 10 minutes of waiting.

"Tch. I could only raise my stats by 5."

Kang Oh looked disappointed.

Not many of the chimeras had respawned, so he was only able to kill five of them before Gluttony wore off.

"Where did you go?" Eder asked.

"Ah, I still had some time left on Gluttony, so I went back and killed some more monsters," Kang Oh replied.

"Aha."

Eder nodded his head.

"Let's see... what was left behind."

Kang Oh approached Shurak's body. Shurak had dropped two items.

"Oh, this is?"

Kang Oh picked up an expensive-looking sword.

It looked like Shurak's ice blade, though it was much smaller.

[Shurak's Cold Bearing Blade]

Of the chimeras that the great alchemist, Kudal, created, Shurak was his most powerful.

This is the blade that Shurak used for quite some time, and also contains the power over cold.

+ Add Cold: When a skill is used, the ice element is added to it. If an aura is used, then it becomes a cold aura instead.

+ Frost: When you land an attack, there is a fixed chance that your opponent becomes frozen.

Rank: AA

Abilities: Attack Power +290, Physical +50, Magic +30, increases damage of ice element skills and magic by +5%

Minimum Requirements: Level 200. Physical 200. Magic 200. Ice Resistance 30%.

"Hmm."

Kang Oh's expression was hard to read.

"What's wrong? Is it not very good?" Eder asked, taking notice of his expression.

"It's good. It's a level 200, AA-rank sword."

The sword was good. Its effects and abilities were great.

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's hard to equip. If you want to equip this thing, then you need to have both high Physical and Magic stats."

Shurak's sword required a high Physical and Magic stat. Thus, not many players could equip it.

"Will it not sell?"

"No. There are Magic Knights or Magic Swordsmen who raise both stats simultaneously, so it should."

The sword's abilities were pretty good, so it should sell.

"I see."

Eder nodded his head.

"Next up is..."

Kang Oh picked up the heart.

[Shurak's Heart]

Chimera Shurak's heart. A high-rank material used for alchemy. It can also be used when creating a chimera.

Material Rank: A

"Mm, as I thought, it's a material."

Kang Oh placed Shurak's Heart into his inventory.

"Now then, let's look for some money."

A dungeon hunter's goal was to either find hidden treasure or the riches that a boss naturally accrued.

Eder's hand shot up.

"Ah, I already found it."

While Kang Oh was out killing monsters, Eder had found out where the treasure was stored.

"Oh, really? How is it? Was there a lot?"

"See for yourself."

There were stairs that led underground.

Kang Oh and Eder took the stairs down.

"Mm."

It was a room with a table, a bookshelf, and a rocking chair. There was also various experiment equipment and alchemical jars as well.

"I took a quick look. It looks like this is where Kudal spent his latter years."

Eder pointed at the notebook on the table.

Kang Oh opened the notebook.

It was Kudal's diary, which stated how he'd spent his latter years.

Kudal had repeatedly failed to resurrect Renji and eventually gave up. After that, he cut off all communication with others, and spent the rest of his life in solitude, taking up chimera creation as a pastime until his death.

"Kudal's corpse must not be here because it's been so long. It must have already turned into particles of light."

When an NPC dies, their body is preserved for some time, but eventually, their body turns to particles of light and disappears as if it were decomposing.

"Most likely."

Eder nodded his head.

Kang Oh put down the diary.

"Where's the treasure?" Kang Oh asked.

"Inside there."

Eder pointed at one side of the wall. There was a door there.

Kang Oh heart pounded as he opened the odor.

"Oho."

Kang Oh's lips curled upwards.

There were several gold coins and bars inside. Also, there were various alchemical materials on one side of the wall.

"Yahoo!" Kang Oh cheered, and began placing the gold and alchemical materials into his inventory.

"Hehehe."

His smile never left his face while he collected the materials.

'There's a little more than 500 gold, and if I sell these materials, then I'll make about 800 gold.'

As expected of a hidden dungeon.

It didn't disappoint him.

"How much did you get out of it?"

Eder approached him.

"More than 1,000 gold, I think."

"Wow, you've struck gold."

"It's not bad."

Kang Oh grinned.

"Hehe, then please give me some too."

Eder rubbed his hands together.

"Who are you again?"

Kang Oh smiled and widened his eyes.

"I'm not asking for much. Please just give me 50 gold!"

Eder stretched out his hand.

Kang Oh completely ignored him.

"Now that we're done with the dungeon, let's return to Altein!"

"Ah, Mr. Kang Oh!"

Eder's anxious voice resounded throughout the room.

* * *

Kang Oh and Eder returned to Altein.

"Hehe, thank you very much."

Eder grinned.

Kang Oh had given him his 3 gold wage and a 30 gold bonus.

"Yeah. Go ahead and go home."

Not only that, but he was letting him go home!

"Then, I'll see you next time."

Eder disappeared into the crowd.

Kang Oh, who was by himself now, headed for the auction house.

He had to check whether Monique's set was sold, as well as put Shurak’s Cold Bearing Blade up for auction.

Kang Oh entered the auction house.

As always, the auction house looked like a cafe, and there was also a auction device attached to the ceiling as well.

Kang Oh sat on top of a sofa and opened the auction interface.

"Let's see here..."

Monique's set, which possessed the Steal and Exploit abilities, had been sold.

'950 gold, huh... Not bad.'

Using the auction interface, Kang Oh collected his profits, minus the 10% commission fee.

Then, he used the interface once more to look up market prices.

"Hmm. There's a lot more level 200 weapons than before. Equipment that's around level 150 has dropped in price significantly, while materials still sell for a high price."

After looking through the market prices, he went back to his own item.

'Choose Shurak's Cold Bearing Blade. Sell. Let's set the starting bid to 1,000 gold. Duration: 7 days.'

Auction Registration Complete.

'Choose Shurak's Heart. Sell. Let's set the starting bid at 100 gold. Duration: 3 days.'

Kang Oh finished registering Shurak's Heart as well.

"Ok."

Kang Oh, having finished everything he'd set out to do, stood up.

At that moment...

Beep. Beep.

He heard a signal from his communication earring.

Kang Oh grabbed the earring.

"Mr. Kang Oh."

He heard Grano's voice.

"Ah, Mr. Grano!" Kang Oh replied with a joyous voice.

"I called you several times, but you weren't picking up. Did you travel to someplace far?"

"Yes. I went to Myron."

"The mecca of alchemists, Myron... I've been there before too. Are you busy right now?" Grano asked.

"No, not at all."

"Then shall we meet at the Tower's 2nd floor cafe? I'd like to talk to you about Modune and the treasure."

"I understand. I'll head over right now."

"Alright. I'll be waiting."

Kang Oh left the auction house and headed for the magic tower immediately.

A short while later...

Kang Oh entered the Tower's cafe.

"Over here."

Grano was waiting for him. Kang Oh sat down across from him.

"Have you been well?" Kang Oh inquired.

"I've been a bit more busy because of Modune."

"How has that been going?" Kang Oh asked since Grano had brought it up.

"We're in the middle of intense negotiations with the Arabas Kingdom. However... I believe that the Arabas Kingdom will give up on Modune."

"Hmm. I see."

Kang Oh nodded his head.

"I'll let you know what'll happen to him once I know for sure."

"Ok."

"I've also exchanged all of the hidden oasis' treasure into gold."

Kang Oh's eyes gleamed.

"So how much did you get?"

Was it about 5,000 gold...?

"It was..."