Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Fearful Leadership (3)

“Yaaaaa!”

[The Roar of the Enraged Lion is activated]

[The morale and ability stats of all enemies have decreased]

Kang Hyeon, who had just entered the tutorial, suddenly shouted.

Consequently, the morale and ability stats of the party members decreased.

This meant that Kang Hyeon was now considering them as enemies.

“What, what’s going on?”

“Why did you suddenly shout?”

-Thump, thump

While everyone was bewildered, Kang Hyeon, who had walked forward, stopped in the center of the group.

“You know it’s been ten days since we came here.”

Kang Hyeon made eye contact with the party members one by one as he continued speaking.

“Your bodies must be exhausted, the food is running low, and you must be feeling uneasy. Yes, I understand.”

Nodding to himself, he looked like someone who truly understood from the depths of his heart.

“So what do you want us to do.”

Suddenly, Kang Hyeon’s atmosphere changed completely, and his eyes were completely crazed.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden..?”

Taken aback by this sight, Lee Jin-mo said.

“Shut up! From now on, everyone will follow my orders. If you don’t want to die, just come along.”

“What the hell are you telling us to come or go?! I’m going back. Don’t tell me what to do and what not to do.”

At Kim Yeon-ji’s words, Kang Hyeon glared at her with a murderous gaze.

‘After all, they’re not real people anyway.’

In the blink of an eye, Kang Hyeon’s sword was at Kim Yeon-ji’s throat.

“Choose whether to die here or come with me.”

“Are you really insane?”

Hearing this, Han Tae-rim shouted and grabbed Kang Hyeon’s shoulder.

-Thwack!

“Argh!”

Kang Hyeon immediately struck Han Tae-rim’s face with his sword.

White teeth flew out of Han Tae-rim’s mouth, and blood flowed.

“I’ll say it one last time. Choose whether to die here or come with me.”

***

Ippotranslation

***

After that, the party advanced relentlessly.

They already knew the locations of all the traps.

Before Kim Yeon-ji could disable them, Kang Hyeon activated the traps and the entire party evaded them.

“What’s wrong with him...?”

The party members could only follow with bewildered expressions.

“Yoon Ae-sun! Cast magic, and Han Tae-rim, give a buff!”

[Agility increases by 1 stat for 10 minutes]

[Health increases by 3 stats for 10 minutes]

[The weapon is imbued with a sacred aura. It deals additional damage to undead monsters for 10 minutes]

Kang Hyeon, who had already reached the core of the dungeon alone, now dealt primary damage with magic and received buffs.

He began to attack the enemies in a frenzied manner.

-Clang! Boom!

-Rattle, rattle!

He deflected the incoming swords.

And he kicked a nearby skeleton soldier, sending it flying.

Meanwhile, he evaded the sword of a skeleton knight trying to take advantage of the opening.

Kang Hyeon then immediately struck down the knight’s neck.

“Ugh!”

At that moment, a sword from a skeleton soldier behind him slashed his back.

The armor was torn, and a burning pain rose up.

However, Kang Hyeon only let out a small groan and quickly stabbed the soldier’s skull with his sword.

“This is unbelievable...”

In less than five minutes, only broken bone fragments remained around Kang Hyeon.

Covered in blood, with eyes shining, Kang Hyeon looked like a demonic spirit risen from hell.

“Hey... Are you okay?”

Lee Jin-mo approached with a worried expression, but Kang Hyeon raised his hand to stop him.

“I’ll recover on my own if you leave me. Let’s keep going.”

“You’ll collapse that way! You need to rest a little.”

Even the usually taciturn Yoon Ae-sun tried to stop Kang Hyeon, seeing how precarious he looked.

“Shut up! No, Han Tae-rim, give me a heal. I’ll move on after recovering.”

Although it was a complete order, the overwhelmed Han Tae-rim obediently cast a healing spell.

“Mmm...”

Feeling his wounds healing a bit, Kang Hyeon got up and started walking again.

‘When I’m alone, my magic runs out quickly, and the recovery takes longer.’

The ‘Intermediate Bodily Regeneration (B)’ he received for clearing the third stage was worth its rank.

Any injury, even a severed limb, would heal instantly.

However, Kang Hyeon’s magic was only 14.

It had not grown at all from the initial stats he received.

Ultimately, he had reached the limit of solo play, feeling his magic depleting and his wounds not healing.

‘It’s definitely better with the buffs and heals.’

Several more battles ensued.

Now the party members were actively helping Kang Hyeon in combat, as they had gained hope that they might make it out alive with his fierce determination.

Without even a proper rest, they pressed on for hours.

Finally, they arrived in a large hall.

“The core is there. If we destroy that, we can make it out alive!”

In the center of the hall, where five skeleton knights were stationed, the dungeon’s core was located.

Kang Hyeon unhesitatingly struck the core with his sword.

At that, the four men and women disappeared, and a blue portal opened before him.

Kang Hyeon immediately jumped into the portal.

[Congratulations. You have cleared Stage 4.]

[As a clear reward, you receive the Ring of Strong Spirit.]

[Level Up!]

Along with the level up, Kang Hyeon checked the clear reward.

“Ring of Strong Spirit...?”

Name: Ring of Strong Spirit

Rank: B

Durability: 100/100

Description: This was a ring issued to the imperial guards of the Hendelic’s Empire. Although it is a mass-produced item, it boasts excellent performance as it is given to those at the top.

Ability: Grants the wearer immunity to all mental magic and mental status effects of A-rank and below.

Seeing the description of the ring, Kang Hyeon had a complex expression on his face.

“It’s clearly a good item, but...”

If it’s for A-rank and below, that means it includes A-rank as well.

If it grants immunity to all mental-related things, it would be a fantastic item.

But it’s not an item he needs right now.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll find a use for it someday.”

After checking, Kang Hyeon opened his status window.

▫Name: Kang Hyeon

▫Title: One Who Does Not Hold Back

▫Level: 14 → 15 new!

▫Detailed Stats:

Strength 17 (+1)

Agility 16 (+1)

Vitality 16 (+1)

Magic 14 (+1)

Bonus Stats: 0 → 1 new!

▫Unique Ability: Resurrection

▫Abilities: Lower Swordsmanship (E), Lowest-Tier Shield (F), Lowest-Tier Crossbow (F)

▫Skills: Roar of the Enraged Lion (D), Intermediate Body Regeneration (B)

“I can’t help but feel proud.”

Seeing his status, Kang Hyeon rubbed his nose and smiled.

“What should I invest in? I feel like putting it in magic, but...”

When alone, as long as he had enough magic, he could recover from any injury.

But just increasing magic wouldn’t immediately boost his combat capabilities.

[Do you want to use the 1 Bonus Stat on Magic?]

“Yes.”

After some deliberation, Kang Hyeon invested the stat point in Magic.

“I feel like I’m becoming a jack-of-all-trades, but oh well.”

[The waiting time has expired. Exiting the tutorial.]

***

Ippotranslation

***

On a snowy winter day,

“Huff, huff...”

As usual, Kang Hyeon was doing push-ups.

‘I don’t get tired at all with just bodyweight exercises now.’

He had been exercising for an hour without taking a break, but Kang Hyeon still felt he could keep going.

‘A gym. No, even just some simple exercise equipment at home would be nice...’

But Kang Hyeon wasn’t short on money, nor was he shameless.

In fact, until recently, he had been shameless, but now he had matured a bit.

‘Since my body feels good, unnecessary thoughts are creeping in. Time to push harder.’

Kang Hyeon shook his head to clear his mind and continued his workout.

“Kyaaaaa!”

-Screech, Crash!

Suddenly, the outside became chaotic, with the sound of screams and the building shaking.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?!”

Panicked, Kang Hyeon quickly opened the window.

“What the...”

In front of his house, the dungeon.

The door of that dungeon was wide open.

And from the portal emitting a mysterious light, armed goblins were pouring out.

-Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Soon, the sound of gunfire, something rarely heard in South Korea, filled the air.

“Fuck! I filed so many complaints to the government to remove that dungeon in front of my house!”

The government was leading the effort to deal with the dungeons, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the total number of dungeons.

In fact, the number of dungeons was steadily increasing.

Finally, a month after the initial appearance of the first dungeon,

All the dungeon doors that had never been cleared before opened simultaneously.

“Kang A-hyun! I have to save Kang A-hyun!”

He immediately thought of his hometown where his parents were, but now he had no means to get there.

Kang Hyeon decided to first try to rescue Kang A-hyun, who had gone to work.

“What kind of company makes people come to work at a time like this?!”

Just a short while ago, he had been complaining that the company took too many holidays, but now he was cursing the company for having Kang A-hyun come in to work.

“I need something that can be used as a weapon...”

Looking around the house, there was nothing that seemed usable.

“That’ll do.”

At that moment, Kang Hyeon spotted a kitchen knife and immediately rushed out of the house, knife in hand.

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