Chapter 79 – Gain and Loss

“This can’t be!”

When I held the sword in my hand, my stats were increased by a ton.

A massive increase in strength. Most weapons were all about the strength stat.

On staffs, the mana stat would be attached to it.

However, this weapon here even had a special effect attached to it.

The sword had a bonus, and it was as following.

-Butcher’s Sword-

* Strength +2200

* 15% of overall strength increase

* Two handed

* Obtain 5% worth of stats from defeated foes

“… This is insane, but what’s up with the special effect…?”

The increase in strength from the Butcher’s Sword was insane.

It was as if I was holding onto 4 Banwol Jincheons.

Of course, I couldn’t gain additional stats even if I was holding onto more than two Banwol Jincheons in the first place.

The shape was small and short, and there wasn’t much weight to it.

‘To think that this is a two handed sword…’

It made me a little bit doubtful.

It was because most two handed weapons were giant, like the bastard swords or a claymore.

However, this weapon was barely the size of a traditional Yuggag-do. 1

Well, it would be wrong to determine everything by its size.

It would be probably a lot more comfortable than having to use both hands for the Banwol Jincheons.

The one thing I was doubtful was the special effect attached to it.

‘5% worth of stats from defeated foes.’

Since monsters did not have stats, this meant that the sword could only benefit from killing people.

The bonus stats could only be obtained by taking down other Awakened.

It really did its name justice.

In theory, taking down someone with 500 strength meant that I would gain 25 strength.

In retrospect, this was an amazing ability.

Tanks, magicians, assassins, warriors, healers.

The stats they invested in were all different from each other.

Magicians and healers, who mostly raised the mana stat, would have not much strength or stamina stats.

However, by absorbing the stats of warriors, whom mostly raise strength, stamina, and dexterity, I would be easily able to gain stats that would normally be difficult with leveling.

“This effect is a bit concerning.. but there are people out there that deserve having their stats stolen.”

The man who muttered to himself came to mind.

My guess was that he was probably Ghost.

Roaming around near me, he was most likely going be an annoyance soon.

Not only him, but his subordinates as well.

All of them would become my stats, flesh and blood for my growth.

You’re saying that I’ve become cruel after killing all of Noblesse and Joker?

That I’m treating human lives like ants?

No. Not at all.

Even a tame dog would growl at someone who tried to steal their food.

And in this case, it would be a dog vendor trying to put a collar on me.

It couldn’t be helped that I would be bearing my fangs and bite with all my might.

I calmed myself from the anger I felt when I thought about them, and turned my attention to the drops.

I had finished up to checking the armor and sword.

I was sure that these were some amazing goods.

Out of all the Awakened currently, there’s probably none that would wearing things like these.

Other than Awakeneds like Joker, the leaders of the radical faction.

The only thing left to check was the accessories.

The ring, necklace, and the bracelets were dropped neatly next to each other.

The accessories I was wearing consisted only of the skull ring that raised my strength by 20 and the Louver’s set.

However, the effect from the Louver’s set was useful in both combat and hunting.

The skull ring, on the other hand, I just couldn’t toss away because I had paid it with my own money to purchase it.

Out of all the artifacts I had, you could say that this was the one with the worst stats.

First, I checked the bracelet.

Rather than a bracelet, it was more akin to a wristguard.

You could say that it was a wristguard of 10cm or so that covered my arms fully?

The Eye of Insight informed me that it was something that raised my mana stat.

“Yep. Trash. Next.”

I tossed it immediately into the pile of bloodstones.

Out of all the stats it could increase, why did it have to raise the mana stat.

This wasn’t the first time either.

The equipment I’ve obtained from my constant hunting only raised the mana stat.

It would be odd to say that a person with the insane ability of possessing infinite mana is unlucky, but when it came to equipment, I really was.

My disappointment was brief. The necklace that dropped seemed pretty good.

It was the Necklace of Searching.

If I thought of someone I knew and used the necklace, it would reveal the location of the target.

However, if the target was inside of a dungeon or a portal, it wouldn’t be able to find them.

It was a one time use item, but I thought it wasn’t a bad gain.

The last thing I checked was the ring.

I was hoping that it would be something to replace my skull ring.

However, just by looking at the shape, I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be helpful for increasing my offensive capabilities.

If it wasn’t enough that the entire armor was red, now I had this flower ring.

I wasn’t sure of what flower it resembled, but it was the shape of a flower bud.

I checked the ring’s stat.

-Trade with the Reaper-

* Blooms when the wearer’s life expires.

* Obtain a new life.

* Limited to one time use per person.

“Jackpot.”

The sword and now the ring. It was a constant homerun.

Looking at the effect, one could say that it was a ring with the ability to resurrect.

The explanation said that it gave new life to one whose life had expired.

However, it could only be used once per person.

Well, even with this, it was plenty enough.

Regarding rings and bracelets, you could equip up to two.

That meant that even if you equipped everything you could get your hands on, only the effect from the first two equipped would be active.

I put the Trade with the Reaper ring in my pocket, and equipped the skull ring once more.

The owner for this ring wouldn’t be me, but my mother.

Even if she was being protected by Proof of Pledge skill, I saw firsthand of the offensive capabilities the radical faction possessed.

It wasn’t as if the equipment had a requirement to wear.

On top of that, mother was receiving the same stats as I, so she could definitely wear it, and it would show its ability at the worst situation possible.

“Whenever I meet a mimic, my bag overflows.”

The armor and the sword. And the countless bloodstones that poured out.

On top of that, Essences of Transcendence and Awakened essences.

I gathered up all the loot dropped from the level 34 mimic and left the dungeon.

****

Dark Lady, who heard that Joker was dead from Ghost, was in a state of half belief and half doubt.

The one with the strongest offensive capability in the radical faction was Joker.

On top of that, he was a man that never lost in a 1v1.

Raising one of her eyebrows, Dark Lady asked.

“Joker was defeated?”

“I’m sure of it. The Awakened association building in Yangpyeong. They fought in that abandoned building.”

“How would you know… Whatever, who are they?”

“Pfft. Not sure who it for sure yet. But one thing. I keep seeing this childlike boy.”

“A boy? Are you talking about a single person?”

“Yep. Oddly enough, there’s none I can see other than him.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. You’re saying that Joker was done in by a single boy? Is this the best of what your ability can do? If it’s an ability like that, you shouldn’t be here. It would be better if you left to start a fortune telling business. But if you keep saying nonsense like this, you’d be out of business very quickly.”

“Pfft! Dark Lady. Do you remember? Of the one that Joker had his eye on.”

“The one that took out the entire funding guild by himself?”

“Yes, yes! Joker had reported to Zekill that he cleanly eliminated him. From what I heard, he said something about infinite mana. I think he’s alive. What do you think? Isn’t this funny?”

“He, who had butchered the guild, killed Joker as well? Joker, who is the strongest in 1v1, by himself?”

“Oh! Oh! That’s correct!”

Dark Lady went into deep thought.

The inside of her head became complicated.

What made her fall into disarray was the death of Joker.

She thought that there was a tiny 1% chance of his death being true.

If he did die, she thought it would be subjugation at the hands of a very powerful group.

But Ghost was saying that he was defeated by a single person.

Joker, who had brute strength that Dark Lady couldn’t even face against.

Ghost looked at her furrowed face and spoke.

“What are you going to do?”

“…..”

“Are you going to report to Zekill? Or should we take care of it ourselves?”

“Us?”

“Of course us! There’s only two leaders left now.”

“I don’t think your fortune telling ability helps at all in combat. I’m going to report to Zekill right away. And I’ll only follow his orders.”

“You’re no fun.”

Ghost spoke while looking like a disappointed child.

Then, almost as if becoming a different person, Ghost spoke.

“I could… kill him….”

“What?”

“I could kill that kid.”

“You’re crazy. He even defeated Joker. He’s definitely stronger than what you could handle. I hope that you won’t do anything on your own, Ghost. If you died as well, it would be a huge disruption to the grand plan…”

“Hehe… I’ll kill him! I can take it!”

For a moment, he had let his sanity go.

Condensed mana began to crackle around him.

It was as if he didn’t know how to use it, but it was easy to tell just by looking how powerful the gathered mana was.

“Calm down, Ghost.”

Without realizing, Dark Lady was using her defensive skill.

After all, he was giving off that much of a killing intent.

Dark Lady was feeling fear akin to looking at a time bomb that she didn’t know when it would go off.

After the storm of mana he let out left, Ghost was calming down from his excitement, and his eyes were regaining their pupils.

She thought that the aberrant behavior was over, but then Ghost’s form began to shift madly, announcing another start to it.

From child to an ancient elder.

His form shifted from monsters to animals, demons to ghosts, filling up Dark Lady’s entire field of view.

The killing intent and fear felt was enough to call it a terrifying nightmare.

How much time has passed?

The killing intent that filled the air dissipated, and Ghost regained control of himself.

“Ha…. Ha….”

“….”

“Two days. Just two days is enough.”

“…..”

“Until then, it’s a secret! Okay?”

After saying that, Ghost went outside.

Dark Lady was still pressured from that unknown power.

With ragged breaths, she was shaking.

“M… Monster. He’s not human.”

She had been pushed back by Joker during the fight, but she still possessed more strength than what most Awakeneds could imagine.

But she, despite being that strong, felt this much fear.

This entire time, she was doubting Ghost’s ability.

After all, the man was questionable to the point as to wonder how he obtained the position of leader.

But in that short amount of time, she saw it clearly.

Someone that she couldn’t approach with her strength.

That he was an existence that didn’t exist in this world.

****

“Whew. I let my mind wander again. If I think about him, I get excited like this.”

Ghost had returned back to his home base in Gangwon-do.

He commanded all the underlings beneath him to gather in one spot.

Ghost never cared about his underlings.

He never commanded them or even had them work on the project, not even once.

However, with his first command, everyone had gathered with confused looks of disbelief.

In the place where everyone had gathered up, Ghost opened his mouth.

“Wow. There were that many of you? Everyone, do you wanna go hunting with me?”