Chapter 109

Level Up IlDanSimPanGwan – Episode 109 (109/227)

Episode 109: The Art of Hunting (Part 2)

KWAHAAAA!

A fierce white flame filled and poured through the passage, instantly incinerating the monsters caught in its wrath.

The raging flames that had devoured them swept against the walls before finally subsiding.

Standing before the now-clear passage, Ail lowered his sword.

And just as he did, the last remaining monster charged at him from behind.

SNAP!

Its head flew off in one clean stroke.

[You Have Leveled Up!]

“Done!”

At the sight of the floating message, Ail let out a triumphant cheer.

It had already been a week since he’d holed up in this creepy dungeon crawling with undead to hunt nonstop.

Aside from sleeping, eating, and exercising, Ail had practically devoted every waking moment to hunting.

Battles in virtual reality games like Warode were always draining on one’s mental stamina, and this kind of grueling schedule would’ve broken most people within a day.

But thanks to years of grinding online games and an almost supernatural level of determination, Ail pushed through it all.

And the results?

“Level 49…”

After seven days, he’d leveled up eight times.

Without even doing any quests, he’d achieved this speed purely through hunting alone.

Of course, it wasn’t just Ail’s skills that made this possible.

The efficiency of the experience points gained from these dungeon monsters was excellent, their respawn rate was fast, and they were perfectly suited to his character.

On top of that, there were occasional elite monsters scattered around, allowing Ail to boost his stats whenever he encountered them.

Thanks to this, Ail had carefully raised his abilities during breaks and continued sweeping through the dungeon with renewed vigor.

With food and supplies stocked in his inventory, Ail had practically shut himself away in the underground dungeon like a hermit.

But the rewards for such efforts were sweeter than ever.

<User Info>

Name: Ail

Title: Messenger of the Goddess

Affiliation: Light Church

Level: 49

Class: Heresy Judge

Main Stats

Strength: 105(+60) Agility: 97(+41) Vitality: 98(+33) Magic: 20(+20) Faith: 162.4(+20) Madness: 156.9(+20)

Passives

[Crazy Martyr(Basic)], [Blade of Hatred(Basic)], [Defense Shatter(Unique)]

Actives

[Sacred Flame(Basic)], [Sentence of Punishment(Apostle)], [Heresy Designation(Apostle)], [Reversal(Rare)], [One Slice(Heroic)], [Baptism of Fire(Heroic)]

Faith: Goddess of Justice, Light, and Madness

Position: Apostle of Lu

Divine Favor: 73.96%

Contribution Points: 8,230 (Total 16,180)

“Haha…”

Looking at his updated status screen, Ail couldn’t help but smile.

This was the fruit of a week-long hellish grind, and it felt incredibly satisfying.

He had worked himself so hard that even Lu, who initially sent cheerful messages about his rapid growth, eventually started sending worried updates between hunts.

Though when Ail finished his final level-up, she too sent congratulatory words.

[‘Light Judge Lu’ is truly amazed by your perseverance.]

[Goddess’s Favor +1.00% (Current 74.96%)]

[Light Church Contribution Points +300]

Starting at Level 41, he had now reached Level 49.

The efficiency of hunting was starting to decline, signaling it was time to move on to a new hunting ground.

Time to breathe some fresh air again.

“Ugh…?”

After sheathing his sword and preparing to leave the dungeon, Ail suddenly stumbled.

Apparently, pushing himself too hard for that final burst had taken its toll, leaving his legs trembling.

[‘Light Judge Lu’ scolds you for your pitiful state.]

[Apostles should not show such foolishness.]

[A support item has been granted.]

[Blessed Fatigue Recovery Potion(Rare)]

“Hm?”

In a flash of white light, a potion bottle appeared in Ail’s hand.

“I haven’t seen an item like this before…”

While consumable items came in many varieties, even Ail couldn’t keep track of them all.

Gratefully bowing his head, Ail drank the potion and immediately felt his strength returning.

Most fatigue recovery potions didn’t have much noticeable effect, but this rare-grade item kicked in right away.

Thanks to this, Ail was able to walk out of the dungeon with much lighter steps.

“The reaction to my videos… still good as expected.”

Checking his personal screen, Ail nodded in satisfaction.

During his intense hunting sessions, he’d uploaded several completed videos, which were receiving great responses.

With editing handled by BloodyZick Studio, quality was never an issue, and Ail’s Wotube channel continued to grow rapidly.

Additionally, Ail had changed his approach.

Instead of setting up recordings for specific sessions, he now kept constant recording enabled, selecting usable footage afterward.

He planned to choose appropriate clips from all his gameplay.

Since impressive scenes could appear unexpectedly, this method seemed more efficient.

“Finally found some useful info too.”

While Ail hadn’t been mindlessly grinding in the dungeon.

Even while pushing himself to the limit, he’d consistently checked various information sites and recently discovered something useful.

Forbidden magic traces had been found in Dragon Tail Forest, territory of the lizardmen.

This clearly had connections to the recent large-scale gathering of lizardman forces, and nearby users who had accepted related quests were currently engaged in battle.

Traditionally, aside from ancient rituals, lizardmen had no particular connection to magic.

However, mysterious new spells had suddenly emerged.

Lizardman shamans, once practitioners of traditional rituals, had abandoned their old ways and started using what appeared to be forbidden magic.

Because of this, they had bounty placed on them by the royal family, attracting many level 50 users seeking to hunt them down.

Still, it was unlikely the lizardmen had suddenly awakened forbidden magic on their own, leading Ail to suspect the Secret Order.

“Why are those guys suddenly causing so much trouble after staying hidden for so long…”

Recently, the Secret Order had become much more active.

To the point where rumors about them were starting to circulate among top-tier information site users.

Though forbidden magic was powerful, it was strictly suppressed, and as a secret organization, they lacked sufficient numbers and power base.

So why were they drawing attention now?

“There must be something they’re counting on… Anyway, I need to hurry.”

If he waited too long, he might miss another clue, so after exiting the passage, Ail quickened his pace.

* * *

“Can I really do this alone…?”

Perched atop a giant tree, Ail looked down while muttering.

He was now in Dragon Tail Forest, territory of the lizardmen.

True to their domain, numerous lizardman soldiers patrolled the dense forest.

Already classified as high difficulty among level 50 hunting grounds, Dragon Tail Forest now had even more creatures due to the ongoing event.

The monsters’ patrols had become stricter, exuding a dangerous aura.

Of course, with the royal bounty quest available, many users had come to hunt here.

Offering appropriately challenging experience points and loot, quite a few users gathered to fight the lizardmen.

However, Ail needed to venture deeper.

Most users were focused on eliminating elite lizardman shamans to claim their bounties.

But Ail had no interest in such objectives.

His real goal was to find members of the Secret Order or clues about them, responsible for providing the forbidden magic.

“To do that, I’ll have to reach deep into the heart of the forest…”

While many parties had entered the forest for hunting, even they stayed mainly in the relatively less dangerous outer areas.

Most groups hesitated to enter the inner regions packed with even more lizardmen.

“Still, I have to try.”

After a week of searching through information sites, he’d finally found this lead, and there was no way he was turning back now.

Descending from the tree, Ail began moving through the forest, carefully concealing his presence as he parted the underbrush.

With so many lizardmen around, getting spotted would likely result in being swarmed from all sides.

Besides, these weren’t monsters that provided attribute or damage bonuses, and he preferred not to get bogged down fighting them if possible.

Of course, that was assuming he remained undetected.

SKREEEK?

Ail accidentally made eye contact with a lizardman while moving through the bushes.

In the awkward silence that followed…

KWAAAK!

His sword was already embedded in the creature’s neck before it could react, and Ail stomped on its thrashing head to finish it off.

The lizardman collapsed lifelessly.

No matter how careful he was, he couldn’t avoid detection entirely, and he needed to quickly eliminate any witnesses before they summoned reinforcements.

However, Ail didn’t immediately leave the corpse behind.

“Now that I think about it… just walking away feels a bit too suspicious.”

Having reached this point, Ail couldn’t just neatly depart without leaving some kind of mark.

* * *

“Wh-What’s wrong with these things?”

“Kyaaah… Why are they acting like this all of a sudden?”

Users hunting in the forest were visibly confused.

As soon as combat began, the lizardmen had gone berserk, charging forward like mad.

While they were never easy opponents, now they were completely frenzied, as if under some kind of rage spell.

There had been no warning signs for this sudden change.

However, this phenomenon wasn’t limited to just this party.

SKREEEEK!

SHIIICK!

The enraged cries of lizardmen echoed throughout the forest.

The reason was simple.

Public executions of lizardmen had been taking place all over the forest.

Unidentified humans invading their territory had captured their kin, subjected them to horrific abuses, and killed them in grotesque ways.

From burnings at the stake to decapitations, the gruesome spectacles were put on display for all to see.

Almost every lizardman in the forest had witnessed these atrocities and developed intense hatred toward humans.

Unfortunately, this anger ended up being directed solely at innocent users.