Chapter 62

Level Up IlDanSimPanGwan – Episode 62 (62/227)

Episode 62: 70% Luck, 30% Skill (Part 2)

“What the… it’s just a deer?”

“Looks like it’s been rotting for quite some time. Can’t really use it for anything.”

With flies buzzing around the deer carcass, Ail shrugged his shoulders.

In Warode, unless you’re within city or village limits, it’s pretty common to come across wild animals. Even if the area isn’t designated as a hunting ground, sometimes regular animals from nearby regions show up.

Unless you’re starving or need leather items, most players focused on hunting monsters rather than dealing with wildlife. For non-crafting players, these animals weren’t really worth paying attention to.

But Furyon suddenly dropped to his knees in front of the deer corpse, gently touching the wound marks left by ghouls’ teeth.

“Poor thing… must’ve been attacked by monsters. So sad…”

Furyon bowed his head in a brief moment of silence.

His random words and actions came out of nowhere…

While one might think he’s overly sensitive or has unique preferences, any Warode player would know exactly why he’s doing this.

“Uh, shouldn’t you be leveling your exclusive stat during solo play?”

When Furyon suddenly went into nature-loving mode, Danram furrowed his brow in annoyance.

Occupational stats, or fifth stats…

Whenever Ail prayed, his Faith stat would increase slightly, same as other players. Repeating specific actions related to their occupation or meeting certain conditions would raise their exclusive stats, improving the efficiency of their occupational skills.

This is also why there are so many concept players in Warode.

For druids, their exclusive stat increases through combat or interacting with nature. And that’s exactly why Furyon was doing what he did.

“But during solo play? Paladins can just join parties and fight to level up their stats, but druids have to do this all the time.”

Paladins also have exclusive stats that increase when they protect party members or sacrifice themselves in dangerous situations.

Though among Warode’s many exclusive stats, paladins’ don’t require much attention and can easily rise through combat alone.

However, Danram wasn’t buying it.

“For druids too, combat is still the main way to gain stats. How much will you even gain from this? Most people level their stats through combat anyway.”

“Hey, stop fighting…”

Ail tried to mediate, feeling awkward.

He didn’t want any cracks forming in what had been a perfectly fine party.

But Danram raised his voice again.

“When traveling together, we shouldn’t inconvenience each other. Are you going to stop every time you see a broken tree branch and feel sorry for it?”

“Ahh, got it, got it. I’ll hold back. Can’t be helped…”

Fortunately, Furyon backed down first.

It felt like they’d managed to cut things off before a real argument between party members could start.

With various strangers coming together, unexpected conflicts or issues can arise even in initial meetings.

In such situations, mutual consideration is key to finding common ground and moving forward smoothly.

“Alright then, let’s refocus and keep going.”

“Over there!”

Danram pointed behind Ail.

Had they heard the commotion? Four ghouls were charging toward them.

Since these creatures usually travel in groups of four or five, this was actually a typical encounter, well within what they’d expected before setting out.

Still, few could stay calm facing a pack of high-level monsters charging at them with terrifying speed.

[Debuff applied: ‘Intimidation’ status!]

Once again, the intimidation effect from the severe level difference kicked in, reducing the overall abilities of the party members. In that moment, Ail shouted to Danram who was frozen in place.

“Danram, please grab aggro!”

“Ah… right!”

Regaining his senses, Danram held up his shield and stepped forward.

Even as a professional tanker, handling four high-level monsters alone would be tough. Ail joined him at the front line.

KUHNG!

The battle began as the ghouls charged in.

Unlike Danram who took the hits head-on, Ail sidestepped and countered with his longsword. Though he was currently playing as a swordsman and hiding his true identity by not using any Inquisitor skills like Sacred Flame, he still had advantages over others.

Thanks to being branded as heretical and having increased combat stats from divine favor and madness, he could ignore the intimidation debuff completely.

Calmly and skillfully, Ail’s sword sliced through the ghoul’s flesh and bone, spilling black blood.

PUK!

His blade pierced deep into the ghoul’s face, embedding itself in its skull.

Without even letting out a scream, the creature collapsed after writhing briefly.

Aside from a small wound on his left arm, Ail remained unscathed, with his HP showing above 90%.

It was an impressively clean fight considering it was between a level 27 player and a level 50 monster.

Elsewhere though, things weren’t going so smoothly.

While Ail dealt with one ghoul, Danram was trying to hold the aggro of three at the front.

But these undead were surprisingly agile, and Danram struggled to keep up.

During one of his defensive maneuvers, one ghoul changed targets.

It turned its gaze toward Furyon, who was casting spells from the back.

BAM!

The ghoul leaped toward Furyon.

Just as he finished casting, his magic hit the ghoul but only made it stagger without knocking it down.

The damage connected, but it wasn’t enough to finish it off.

“Damn thing…”

As the ghoul charged with even greater ferocity, Furyon slammed his staff onto the ground.

Roots shot out from the ground, wrapping around the ghoul and lifting it into the air.

Trapped in the roots, the ghoul thrashed about but couldn’t break free.

This was the druid’s exclusive skill ‘Living Roots’, which restrains enemies for a set period.

“You dare defy me, mere mob… Gah!”

CHAAARK!

Another ghoul suddenly appeared, swinging its long claws. Caught off guard, Furyon was sent flying backward.

Though he’d managed to trap one ghoul with magic, another slipped away from Danram and targeted Furyon while he was distracted.

The fragile mage-specialized druid was already near death after taking just one hit.

The main tank responsible for the front line looked confused, unsure whether to chase after the escaped monster or deal with the ones he was currently holding.

Overall, the party members were clearly showing signs of panic.

The injured Furyon stumbled backward as the approaching ghoul closed in.

Its next move was swift.

The ghoul’s claw aimed straight for his neck to finish him off.

“Ugh!”

Furyon braced himself for death, raising his arm to shield his face.

But at that exact moment…

WHOOSH!

Instead of the ghoul’s claws, all Furyon saw was pure white flames filling his vision.

Following Ail’s precise sword swing, the Sacred Flame incinerated the evil undead creature, sending it flying back.

The combination of holy and fire attributes, along with the heretic branding effect, dealt massive damage.

KIIIEE!

Meanwhile, the ghoul that had escaped the roots targeted Ail from behind.

But sensing it instantly, Ail spun around and used the rare skill ‘Reversal’ at perfect timing, catching the ghoul from behind instead.

The sudden acceleration.

Two slashes from Ail’s sword deeply cut into the ghoul’s back, and the fiery creature fell lifelessly to the ground.

Thus, its health bar emptied and its life ended.

“Hold on, wasn’t that a rare grade skill… no, what was that white flame earlier…?”

Realizing what happened, Furyon stared blankly at Ail.

‘Reversal’ is a fairly well-known skill among melee class exclusive skills, and even he recognized it.

It’s extremely rare for a level 20-something player to already possess a rare grade skill.

What’s more puzzling was the identity of that white flame.

To his knowledge, there’s no sword skill belonging to the ‘Swordsman’ profession that causes white flames to erupt from the blade.

Given Furyon’s extensive knowledge of Warode’s professions and skills, he couldn’t figure out Ail’s true identity.

“GRRAAAA!”

“Oh no! It’s heading this way!”

Now a ghoul that had been arguing with Danram broke free and charged at Ail.

But that wasn’t all.

The ghoul that had been knocked away earlier had also gotten back up, and both were now targeting Ail.

Facing two monsters charging from both sides simultaneously…

Ail alternated his gaze between the two, carefully estimating their health.

Remaining as calm and composed as possible…

And the moment the two monsters were almost upon him, he activated his skills.

‘Reversal’ once again…

And ‘Flame Slash’.

In an instant, Ail circled around the ghoul charging from the front. When the two ghouls overlapped, a powerful sword strike and flames swept through the area.

KA-BOOOOM!

“Wha… What the hell…”

Witnessing the scene up close, Danram and Furyon froze in shock.

The overwhelming damage and visual effects…

Even though they couldn’t identify the exact skill used, it was clearly no ordinary one.

Moreover, while they had struggled to take down even a single monster, Ail effortlessly cut down several all by himself without any support.

“KEH KEH…”

After being slashed by the sword and engulfed in white flames, the ghouls collapsed onto the ground, unable to move.

One was completely dead, but the one at the back still had a faint breath left.

The ghoul that had been arguing with Danram was only restrained, having taken minimal damage, so Ail’s ‘Flame Slash’ wasn’t enough to finish it off in one go.

But with it already near death, there was nothing it could do.

Ail dragged his sword across the ground as he approached the creature.

Then he summoned a tome into his left hand through a skill.

“Sentencing… appropriate punishment shall be decapitation.”

CRACK!

The sword that had been raised high came crashing down.

The struggling ghoul’s head was cleanly severed, and bright red blood splattered onto Furyon’s face nearby.

The hot sensation accompanied crimson blood streams running down his cheeks, causing him to tremble as he spoke.

“Y-you… Heresy Judge…”