Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Awakening (End)

TL: Yoni

Edited: Myoni

“Last warning . Withdraw…”

“You talk too much . ”

Muyoung moved first .

Anguish vibrated slightly as it cut through the air .

Werewolves were monsters with strong wolf-like tendencies .

All of a sudden, it jumped up in the air and roughed up its fur .

After landing on the ground, it bent its upper body, half-opened its eyes and prepared for battle .

“You lost your last chance . ”

Last chance?

Muyoung shrugged his shoulders .

Muyoung was already familiar with werewolves’ agility .

At the same time, he realized that the levels of this arena were considerably high .

‘As I go further down the floor, stronger opponents will show up . ”

Currently, this was the 5th floor .

You gained the authority to go down a floor if you won 10 times .

Of course, stronger monsters were bound to show up the lower he went .

Therefore…

‘Slowly, I’ll gain everything that I can . ’

The thing he desired right now was, of course, onz .

To adjust the betting ratio and to make personal gains .

The monsters would only notice something was wrong, once Muyoung’s pouch became fatter later .

There was no one who could control their ‘strength’ more artistically than Muyoung .

Even Wung Chunglin, the leader of Forest of Death, marveled at Muyoung’s ability to finely control his muscles that even allowed him to control the slightest tremors .

How could monsters notice such exquisite skills?

No matter how good their dynamic visual acuity was, if he was determined, they could only be confused .

“Make your frantic last-ditch effort! Because I will hunt you today . ”

The werewolf spoke with certainty .

The bloated up body seemed like it could even break a rock and its sharp teeth and claws seemed like it could cut through everything .

Not just the werewolf .

Everyone who was watching their fight thought this way .

That the result of this fight was decided from the beginning .

That a dokkaebi couldn’t win against a werewolf!

However, Muyoung silently raised Anguish .

He didn’t care about anyone else’s gaze or thoughts .

Whatever the situation was, he was more concerned with how he would proceed .

What was more .

‘A hunt you say?’

Muyoung laughed .

It could believe in whatever it wanted .

On top of that, it even said what Muyoung wanted to say so it was quite commendable .

Slash!

The wolf’s head separated from the body and flew through the air .

It happened in a blink of an eye .

However, the werewolf’s eyes were filled with suspicion .

“Grrr! You fucking bastard!”

“Damn . It was so close… . ”

The monsters that watched Muyoung and the werewolf fight were swearing .

A close match .

It was a fight that people truly thought was won by a paper-thin margin .

No, if you just simply looked at the fight, the werewolf was constantly superior .

In reality, Muyoung’s body was also totally wrecked .

However, it lacked that one single blow and in the end, Muyoung was able to turn the tables around .

Like an episode of a drama, an intense fight had occurred .

“Ha, a dokkaebi won a werewolf?”

“It’s probably beginner’s luck . If the sword bounced off in a different direction, Kaum would’ve won . ”

While Muyoung was getting attacked by the werewolf, Anguish bounced out and it coincidentally it ripped the werewolf’s eye .

There was no room for doubts .

Beginner’s luck .

If Muyoung hadn’t ripped the werewolf’s eye, it was a fight the dokkaebi couldn’t win .

Even in the long run, his stamina would have lagged behind and he would have been doomed .

Of course, no one would believe everything was calculated by Muyoung .

No one .

‘I can see all the paths of a sword . ’

Muyoung scratched his cheek .

When he gained a swordmaster skill, his understanding of swords greatly increased .

Now, he could see most of the paths a sword would take .

As he placed back Anguish to his waist, a huge electronic board in the air rang with a beep! sound .

Afterwards, the results appeared in front of Muyoung .

The 500 onz arena fee which Muyoung and the werewolf provided were added up and returned to Muyoung .

From just one fight, he gained almost 3,000 onz .

If he just continued this for a few more times, a few ten thousand onz didn’t seem hard to save .

‘Oloness . ’

Before leaving the arena, Muyoung looked at Oloness who was standing by himself on top of the battleground .

Slave devil . The one who was called civilian slaughterer, his opponent ended up not appearing .

‘Betting ratio was 1 . 01?’

More amazingly, you could say that the ratio was truly overwhelming .

Everyone was certain Oloness was going to win .

With the opponent forfeiting, all the bets were nullified but it clear evidence that Oloness was that much of a ‘target to avoid’ .

‘He’s the strongest monster among the monsters gathered here . ’

Muyoung was now certain .

The level of fighters was high overall but the one on top was Oloness .

Why would a devil who would have been above a mid-rank under Demon God Vassago’s command be in a place like this?

‘It’s something I need to overcome . ’

Muyoung was determined .

An encounter with a devil wasn’t planned but it seemed like a good thing .

It was a golden opportunity to test his limits and to see how well his strengths will work against a devil .

‘If the path I’m walking is right…’

He would win, if not he would lose .

Muyoung’s eyes deeply sunk .

*

22,000 onz .

Muyoung didn’t place bets on other fights .

He just placed all his onz on his own fights .

Consequently, he was able to get hold of 22,000 onz with only 3 wins .

However, continuous wins would only leave room for doubts .

No matter how realistically he fought, doubt was something like that .

If he was to lose once or to forfeit at a time like this, he might be able to get erase that doubt .

However, there was something that was bothering him before that .

‘These types of trials always have the opportunity to place a record in Solomon’s Hall of Fame . ’

Solomon’s Hall of Fame .

If he was to increase the rankings, he would obviously get an appropriate reward .

He was at crossroads, whether he was going to place his name on Solomon’s Hall of Fame and to receive a reward or get onz to profit from it .

‘Some things I can purchase with onz are slaves and general merchandise . ’

He did go to the other shops but there wasn’t really much in the Weapon or Armor shops .

From the beginning, in an arena where monsters fought, it was highly unlikely for them to sell equipment for humans to use .

Instead, there were a few things in the general merchandise store that caught his attention .

‘If I continue to win, I could buy all the things I wanted . ’

Since general merchandise were things he could buy whenever he wanted with onz .

However, the rewards from the Hall of Fame were most likely to be rare equipment .

Ones that were hard to get and very difficult to find .

It seemed like a waste to lose this opportunity .

That was why, Muyoung decided to walk the path of leaving his name in the Solomon’s Hall of Fame .

The problem was that it was highly likely for humans much stronger than Muyoung to have participated in this Arena .

There was a possibility for a stronger monster than Oloness to exist in the lower floors .

To leave a record in Solomon’s Hall of Fame, he needed to become stronger than he was now .

‘The arena fights are 1 vs . 1 . I can’t use the undead here . ’

Muyoung made his decision .

‘I will use the Soul Exploitation Skill . ’

He was going to use it as his last resort but since he already made his decision to use it, it was best to act fast .

To be fully prepared for every situation, he needed time to get used to his strengthened body .

Muyoung turned his Status Viewer and read the Soul Exploitation skill description once more .

Skill Name: Soul Exploitation (F)

Description – Absorb undead with an art score above 70 to increase your stats . There is a very low possibility of obtaining one of the skills the undead possessed .

The efficiency varies depending on the Art Score, Skill Rank and the material of the undead .

He was limited to only undead with art scores above 70 .

Prince and the Avengers, Blazing Spear Soldier, Sorceress of Lightning, Black Sun Warrior, Baltan and Heidegger .

Among them, there were two undead that were slowly becoming less useful as Muyoung got stronger .

‘Blazing Spear Soldier and Sorceress of Lightning . ’

The two were undead he created in the Free-for-all Trial as he entered the Underworld .

They were quite skillful for young rising stars of the Five Great Clans .

However, after becoming undead, their path to growth was blocked . At the time, they were very useful but it was obvious that their usefulness was slowly decreasing .

Muyoung summoned the two in his cramped room .

“I need you guys to become my strength . ”

It was like a death sentence .

They were already dead but it was crueler to even exploit their souls .

But Muyoung spoke those words as if nothing was wrong .

“I will gladly, give myself . ”

The Blazing Spear Soldier bowed his body .

It was the same for the Sorceress of Lightning .

The two were subordinated undead .

They had no right to refuse in the first place . As undead, they were to die or live depending on Muyoung’s orders .

Muyoung slowly moved and placed his hand on top of the Blazing Spear Soldier and the Sorceress of Lightning .

It seemed like a waste but he had to do it .

The strength of the two would become nutrients and live inside Muyoung’s body .

‘Soul Exploitation . ’

Soon, a bright soul appeared above both of the undead’s head and as he grabbed them a change started to occur .

Blaze!

Muyoung’s whole body burst into flames .

The flames stimulated the specters in Asura Path .

The specters made the flames wrap Muyoung even thicker and produced a strange scene .

As if they knew what would happen next, they produced a strong wall so that no one could interrupt him .

Afterwards, a round ring started to appear on top of Muyoung’s head .

One, two, three, four… and five .

The rings with the energy of the five elements, wood, fire, metal, water, and earth, slowly circulated around him .

And as the five rings that circulated him started to enter Muyoung’s nostrils one by one, he trembled as if he was hit by lightning .

At the same time .

Muyoung’s body slowly floated .

‘Essence is of the materialistic realm, energy is the root to life and god exists in the world of the mind . ’

His mind was blank .

Like a monk spreading the teachings of Buddha, Muyoung quietly repeated the words over and over again .

You could say he became one with selflessness .

He was not disturbed by anyone and no one could disturb him .

In a white world, Muyoung only repeated those words .

On the other hand, the wall of fire and the specters was becoming stronger .

Everything was cut off and Muyoung became the path that accepted everything .

If he was touched by water, he would become water and if he was touched by fire, he would become fire .

He was able to grasp a perfect purity that all souls and elements could pass through .

However, the time that purity could be sustained was extremely short .

It was short but it felt everlasting .

And at that crossroad of purity, Muyoung heard someone’s voice .

– What do you want to be? Make your decision .

[1] Three Essence Congregation of the Crown – 삼화취정 (三花聚頂) . Primary Five Qi – 오기조원 (五氣朝元) . But honestly not sure what they really mean .

[2] The Three Treasures – Junggishin (정기신(精氣神)) – Essence, energy, spirit/god, the three parts to Chinese medicine . In the novel it is explained through Muyoung’s thoughts, essence(jung) is something in the materialistic level, energy(gi) is the root to life and god(shin) exists in the world of the mind .