Kang Oh exited Altein's intercity transfer gate.

He then made his way through the crowd, heading directly to the auction house.

He would sell the Minotaur brothers' weapons and horns there.

Kang Oh had a bunch of items to sell.

After putting them up for auction, Kang Oh bought two pieces of BB-rank equipment so that he had some fuel for Gluttony.

They were called Mido's Magic Wand and Red Metal Gloves. Both of them had a level requirement of about 150.

'Next up is...'

Kang Oh left the auction house, paid a visit to a bar, and bought a strong bottle of liquor.

Then, he visited a bushy bearded, middle-aged man.

"I came here to learn Switch," Kang Oh said.

"If you want to learn Switch, then..."

"Here."

Kang Oh passed him the bottle.

"You came prepared. Sure, I'll teach you Switch."

[You have learned the support skill, Switch.]

Switch was a support skill that allowed a player to quickly swap their main weapon with one from their inventory.

He'd use Switch to swap between Ubist and Blood based on the situation.

"Register Switch."

[Please pick two weapons you would like to switch between.]

"Demon Sword Ubist and Demon Sword Blood."

[Demon Sword Ubist and Demon Sword Blood may now be swapped.]

With Ubist in hand, Kang Oh tested out Switch.

Swish.

His weapon was quickly switched with his other sword, the snow-white blade that emanated red light.

'It takes about 3 seconds...'

In essence, Switch took 3 seconds to swap between weapons, and had a cooldown of 30 seconds.

Leveling up Switch would lessen the time it would take to swap between weapons, as well as reduce the cooldown time.

"Goodbye."

Now that he had finished his business here, Kang Oh said his farewells and left.

After that, he went to a smithy and got all of his equipment repaired. He also went to the potion shop and bought some potions.

'I already have a return scroll, so I'm good on that front.'

"I'm ready now."

His preparations were complete, so Kang Oh headed to the intercity transfer gate. It was time to go to the Great Forest.

* * *

Ming!

Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro rode their Yumas to the Nuwak Village.

"Halt!"

The gatekeeper blocked them.

"Hello."

Kang Oh removed a crow feather from his inventory. The crow feather was a sign that he was a friend of the Nuwak Tribe.

"You can go in."

Seeing that, the gatekeeper's attitude completely changed.

"Thank you."

As always, the members of the Nuwak Tribe had third eyes drawn on their foreheads, and covered their jaws with cloth. They also draped cloaks made of bird feathers over their shoulders as well.

But the atmosphere was kind of strange.

It was both solemn and heavy!

"Isn't this a little strange?" Eder asked.

"Isn't it? It's really weird here," Sephiro said.

"Something must have happened. Let's go see the Chief."

Kang Oh needed to see the Nuwak Chieftain, Shula.

"Alright."

They immediately headed for the 3-story tower at the center of the village. This was the Nuwak Chieftain's residence.

Then, a woman garbed in traditional Nuwak clothing came out of the tower.

"Hello. Do you remember us?"

Kang Oh approached her.

"Of course."

Sui was a woman of the Nuwak Tribe. She also served as Shula's messenger as well.

"Is the Chief inside?"

"Yes. Please come in."

The inside of the tower hadn't changed at all. As always, the 1st floor was a school where the village's children gathered and learned.

"Please wait here for a moment."

Sui went upstairs to inform the Chieftain that Kang Oh's party had come to see him.

A short while later...

Sui came back.

"Please come upstairs."

Kang Oh's party went upstairs, passing the 2nd floor library, and made their way to the 3rd floor where Shula lived.

"You're back," the Nuwak Chieftain, also known as the Wise Soul, Shula, greeted Kang Oh's party.

"Hello."

"Please sit. Sui, could you get us some tea?"

"Yes, Chieftain."

Kang Oh's party sat side by side on the seat cushions, directly facing Shula.

"Hoh. That is..."

Shula widened his eyes.

"Do you recognize it?"

Kang Oh grabbed Demon Sword Blood and placed it over his hands.

"A snow-white blade, red light, and even a panther head ornament. It's the first time I've seen it in person, but it's exactly as my ancestors had described."

"Yes. This is Demon Sword Blood."

"I knew you'd be able to do it."

"Thank you."

Sui brought them some tea. Kang Oh's party sipped the brown tea, which tasted a lot like green tea.

Shula lowered his cup and said, "Anyway, what brings you here? I don't think you came here to inform me of your success."

"I plan on exploring the Great Forest and staying in this village for the time being," Kang Oh said.

He would focus on hunting here until he reached level 200.

After that, he was going to explore the dungeons here, and hopefully find some more hidden dungeons.

'I have to make some more money!'

He was taking a short break from it, but Kang Oh's main job was being a Dungeon Hunter.

"Stay as long as you want. There should be several vacant rooms in the inn. Make sure you don't skimp out and spend as much as you can too."

"I have a question for you, Chief."

"Go ahead."

"Please tell me where the best hunting grounds or dungeons are in the Great Forest."

That was why Kang Oh had come here.

After all, Shula was so knowledgeable of the Great Forest that he was called the Wise Soul.

"Dungeons, huh..."

Shula, who'd been fiddling with his tea cup, looked as though Kang Oh had impeccable timing.

"Nothing's free in this world."

"Ahem."

"Help us. If you do, then I'll give you a map that contains the locations of the dungeons. How about it?"

It was quite an enticing offer. However, he couldn't just say, 'Yes, I'll do it!' right away.

"Let me hear what this is all about first."

"In three days, we'll go on an expedition to kill the Snake Queen at the Winged Snake Nest. Help us with that."

"The Snake Queen?"

Kang Oh tilted his head. He'd never heard of her before.

"Winged Snakes are unique in that they live in a group like bees or ants. When the Snake Queen appears, their numbers swell exponentially. And when the food within their nest becomes scarce, a large number of them leave and eat everything on the outside."

Shula caught his breath and then continued, "They especially love birds! However, the Nuwak lives in harmony with birds. When the Winged Snakes leave their nest, the first place they'll target is the Nuwak Village."

"Then...?"

"Don't be too concerned, since the other tribes have agreed to join forces and kill the Snake Queen in three days."

'This must be why the atmosphere is so heavy in the village...'

"How can I help?" Kang Oh asked.

"Join up with our expedition force, and help us kill the Winged Snakes and the Snake Queen."

Once Shula was finished speaking, a quest popped up.

[Winged Snake Nest Expedition]

If ignored, the Snake Queen and its Winged Snakes will pose a huge threat to the Great Forest!

The tribes of the Great Forest couldn't let this pass, so they formed an expedition force to deal with this threat.

If you help the expedition force kill the Snake Queen and her Winged Snakes, then the Nuwak Tribe will never forget what you've done for them.

Difficulty: Hard

Minimum Requirements: Friend of the Nuwak Tribe, Shula’s acknowledgement.

Reward: A map of the Great Forest that indicates where the dungeons are. Friendship with the Nuwak Tribe increases based on your contributions during the expedition. Bonus experience points.

Failure: The Winged Snakes devastate the Great Forest.

"You'll do it, right?" Kang Oh asked, staring at Eder and Sephiro.

"Of course. A large-scale expedition is a way to obtain a huge amount of experience in a single go," Sephiro immediately replied.

When the expedition is over, a player will gain bonus experience points based on how much they contributed.

In other words, this was one in a million chance for him to level up quickly in a short amount of time.

"If you're willing to do it, then I'll do it too," Eder said.

"I'll do my best," Kang Oh said as the representative of their party.

[You have accepted the quest, Winged Snake Nest Expedition.]

[In 3 days, gather at the Winged Snake Nest at midday. If you don't, then the quest will be canceled.]

"Where is the Winged Snake Nest?" Kang Oh asked.

"Our warriors will depart for the nest the morning of. Go with them."

"Understood."

"I'm counting on you."

"Yes."

Then, Kang Oh's party left Shula's home.

* * *

The expedition was in 3 days.

He wasn't willing to just wait it out and do nothing in the meantime.

'Time is money!'

Thus, Kang Oh led his party to the most well-known hunting ground in the Great Forest, Lizardmen Village.

"I see quite a few players," Sephiro said.

There were already several players there engaging the Lizardmen.

"Let's go."

Kang Oh led.

His body shook with excitement. He couldn't wait to try out his new demon sword in the heat of battle.

Kang Oh's party passed the players and encountered three armored, spear-wielding Lizardmen.

Sephiro immediately shot an arrow. He was essentially calling dibs before any of the other players could get to them.

Whizz! Thwock!

The arrow pierced the Lizardman's forehead.

Euka!

The Lizardmen shrieked and dashed towards them. Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro were responsible for one Lizardman each.

One of them thrust their spear at Kang Oh, aiming for his throat.

Kang Oh avoided the spear by slightly tilting his head to the side, and then got right in front of it.

Swish.

He swung Blood upwards, from down low to up high!

The snow-white blade emanated red light, which made the sword look like a red streak through the air.

Screech!

Kang Oh's blade cleaved through the armor and rent flesh, causing red shards of light to burst from the wound.

Then...

Blood activated its special ability.

Life Steal!

The shards of light were sucked into the blade, and then a red star appeared on top of it.

'What is this?'

Kang Oh didn't miss the change in his sword.

However, Kang Oh couldn't afford to analyze it in the heat of the moment, as he was still fighting against the Lizardman.

Whoosh.

Kang Oh swung his sword, and sliced through his opponent for a second time.

Shards of light exploded from the Lizardman, which were then absorbed by his sword. This time, there was a second star that appeared on his blade.

'I see.'

He realized what the red stars were referring to.

Vampiristic Reinforcement!

Life stealing would increase the sword's attack power, and if he managed to life steal again within 10 seconds, then the effect would stack. It would stack a maximum of 10 times!

The red stars were an indication of how many stacks he had.

'Nice. Let's try stacking it 10 times.'

After that, Kang Oh relentlessly attacked the Lizardman.

As he'd anticipated, his demon sword now had ten stars. Attacking and life stealing any more wouldn't increase its attack power any further.

'It's paramount that I keep attacking and maintain max stacks.'

Kang Oh had figured out the best way to utilize Demon Sword Blood.

At the same time, Blood's current attack power was quite low, so even when it was fully stacked, it wasn't all that impressive.

The sword was only level 1 after all.

'Let's keep using the sword until I get the hang of it.'

Kang Oh decided not to use Ubist, finishing off the Lizardman with Blood.

Sephiro and Eder had already finished off their Lizardmen.

"How is your new weapon?" Sephiro asked.

"It'll get better as time passes."

Demon Sword Blood was an evolving weapon!

So the higher its level, the more powerful it would become.