Chapter 355 – Part 2 – Giant Black Slug’s Reward

Choi Seong-min’s lifestyle for a week was monotonous.

In the morning, he worked with Choi Seong-min’s face, and in the afternoon, he went solo hunting with Song Chi-hyeon’s face.

He constantly went through the Swamp of Chaos, and thanks to this, he was able to raise his agility by 200 over the course of a week.

His combat power had already exceeded 800,000.

He had long surpassed Song Chi-hyeon’s record of 600,000.

Though the growth rate was gradually decreasing, he was still curious about how high his combat power would rise seeing it still increasing.

In the midst of this, when a boss suddenly appeared, Choi Seong-min was pleased.

‘I was getting bored of hunting mobs. This worked out well. That guy should be able to take my damage.’

With such thoughts, the battle he fought ended with an anticlimactic conclusion contrary to his expectations.

[You have defeated the Giant Black Slug!]

[You have obtained an S-rank Magic Stone.]

[You have obtained an S-rank Magic Stone.]

[You have obtained Black Slug Sap.]

[You have obtained an S-rank Dungeon Entry Ticket.]

[You have obtained a Rune of Magic Resistance.]

‘To die so quickly… disappointing.’

A boss that died in 10 seconds.

Was the slug soft? Or had he become strong?

‘It should be the latter, but it’s still too weak…’

Putting disappointment aside, he decided to check the items.

‘Two S-rank Magic Stones came in.’

Being the best among A-rank bosses, it generously dropped S-rank Magic Stones.

‘Here, one would cost about 2 billion… I’ve made a fortune?’

Of course, Choi Seong-min, who wasn’t interested in money, was more drawn to other items.

[Black Slug Sap]

-Classification: Collectible

-Grade: A

-Trait: Bound Item

-Description: The sap of the black slug called the emperor of the swamp. The toxicity is so severe that just smelling it is dangerous.

It was a collectible he had never seen before.

He had caught black slugs once or twice in his previous life, but nothing like this had ever dropped.

‘Just smelling it is dangerous?’

Though he couldn’t smell it since it was contained in a flask, the dark red color looked dangerous even from appearance.

‘Can I make poison with this?’

From the description saying it was toxic, it seemed possible.

As expected.

[You have used the Poison Crafting skill.]

[Please select the material to use from the following:]

-Black Slug Sap x1

When he used the skill, it appeared prominently in the material list.

When he immediately crafted it.

[Crafting successful!]

[You have obtained 1 Lethal Extreme Poison.]

A poison he had never seen before appeared.

[Lethal Extreme Poison]

-Classification: Consumable

-Grade: S

-Effect: Takes away 1% of health per minute. The effect accelerates the more the target moves. Lasts until health reaches 1%.

-Usage Restriction: Poison Crafting skill learner

-Description: Applies extreme poison that can reduce health to the extreme. The more the target moves, the faster the health reduction progresses. At its fastest, it reduces by 1% per second. It cannot be naturally detoxified until health reaches 1%. Once used on a target, immunity develops and no further effect is seen. Also, using multiple doesn’t stack effects.

The poisons so far had been debuff-type that weakened abilities.

‘This is also a debuff. It is, but…’

It substantially drops health to 1%.

In other words, it could turn anyone into an ordinary person who would die from a light touch.

‘It’s truly tremendous poison that could bring down even an elephant in one go.’

The deadly poison that reduced speed and increased damage was also tremendous, but it couldn’t compare to this.

‘While deadly poison wears off after 5 minutes, extreme poison will reduce health to 1% no matter what.’

Though it would take time, there would be no better poison for guaranteed victory.

‘Extreme poison would be especially good to use on strong enemies.’

He decided to save it for the future and looked at the next item.

An S-rank dungeon entry ticket had come in.

‘With this, I can enter S-rank dungeons regardless of rank.’

Since he could deal with the highest A-rank boss in 10 seconds, there was no reason to fear S-rank dungeons.

He decided to enter an S-rank dungeon later and checked the rune he had obtained.

[You have obtained a Rune of Magic Resistance.]

[Resistance to magic permanently increases by 10%.]

[The Rune Affinity trait activates.]

[The Rune of Magic Resistance effect has been enhanced to 20%.]

‘Good. With this, I should be able to reduce magic damage to some extent.’

He had checked all the items.

Now there was only one thing to consider.

‘Which S-rank dungeon should I visit?’

Even among S-rank dungeons, the level differences were vast, so he couldn’t help but be troubled.

‘…That place would be good.’

Having decided on a destination, Choi Seong-min resumed hunting.

Strike while the iron is hot – he planned to quickly finish the conquest and then visit the S-rank dungeon.

---

It was when Choi Seong-min had just gotten into his car after finishing the conquest.

Ring ring- Ring ring-

When his phone rang and he checked, Kwak Min-cheol’s name was displayed.

Choi Seong-min answered the phone with Song Chi-hyeon’s face.

“Yes, Association President.”

-Where are you?

Though the abrupt question could have been flustering, he answered calmly.

“I’m out for a moment.”

-Come to my office right now.

“Understood.”

Choi Seong-min frowned after hanging up.

‘What’s this about?’

It was annoying to be summoned without even stating the reason, but he had no choice.

Even though they might seem like equals on the surface, Song Chi-hyeon was no different from Kwak Min-cheol’s subordinate.

‘Having to bow to the strong is the law of this world…’

He had no choice but to drive back to the Association.

The S-rank dungeon had to be postponed.

Arriving at the Association President’s office in Song Chi-hyeon’s appearance, Choi Seong-min knocked on the door.

Knock knock-

“Come in.”

When he entered, Kwak Min-cheol was standing with his hands behind his back.

This was the second time seeing Kwak Min-cheol, but the first time meeting him in Song Chi-hyeon’s appearance.

“Hey.”

The guy deliberately created an atmosphere with dignified eyes.

It was completely different from when dealing with Choi Seong-min.

“What have you been doing lately?”

“What do you mean?”

“What have you been doing all day, wandering around?”

He tried to read his thoughts to understand the intent behind the question, but soon gave up.

This was an opponent who knew the trait and freely controlled his thoughts.

Reading would be meaningless since he wouldn’t know if it was true or not.

‘From the way he’s hiding his thoughts, this isn’t a probe. He’s asking on purpose while knowing.’

Though he had told the dungeon manager to hide records, it couldn’t be completely concealed.

If Kwak Min-cheol set his mind to it, he could find out what he was doing by having him tailed.

Eventually, Choi Seong-min decided to speak honestly.

“I was hunting.”

“……”

Kwak Min-cheol’s eyebrows twitched as if he hadn’t expected such honesty.

“Why were you hunting?”

“I had nothing to do and was bored, so I went hunting.”

“Damn, are you joking? What crazy bastard spends 12 hours straight in dungeons because he’s bored? And for a whole week!”

‘So he had subordinates tail me all this time.’

He was glad he spoke honestly.

If he had lied, who knows what excuse that would have given him.

“My body has been stiff lately. As a Great Hero, it’s awkward to keep staying at A-rank.”

“What? So growth was the purpose after all? What are you planning to do by growing stronger? Planning to stab me in the back and stage a coup? Like you did when you killed Yang Baek-du?”

“Why is the conversation going in that direction? A coup?”

Crash-!

When Kwak Min-cheol struck the table beside him, it shattered into pieces.

“Are you playing dumb in front of me right now? When I clearly know you’re the one who killed Yang Baek-du?”

Though it was threatening eyes and behavior, Choi Seong-min was calm.

‘I’ll need to get a new table.’

He was just worrying about the table.

“You also killed Team Crush recently. To destroy evidence about Yang Baek-du. Am I wrong?”

“Team Crush? I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

Grind-

Kwak Min-cheol gritted his teeth, but that was all.

He didn’t directly harm him.

‘He knows too. That attacking without solid evidence would be meaningless.’

More than anything, he would want to find evidence for his pride’s sake.

That’s why he called him here to test him.

‘That means he still hasn’t found evidence. It means there’s no problem being more confident.’

Realizing it wasn’t a disadvantageous situation, Choi Seong-min smiled inwardly.

“Hey, Song Chi-hyeon.”

“Yes, Association President.”

“What happened to all your subordinates? Why can’t I contact any of them except one?”

“I didn’t need them except for one. I sent them all on vacation after personal consultations.”

“Vacation?”

“Yes. I sent them far away to Westland.”

“Is that true? Do you have proof?”

“I have no proof. I sent them secretly so no records would remain.”

“Why on earth did you do that? You sent them away because you were afraid your subordinates would drag you down?”

“Of course not. I sent them on vacation saying they had worked hard.”

“Damn, you expect me to believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not, I’ve only stated the facts.”

Even when he came out shamelessly, Kwak Min-cheol could only glare and couldn’t make any particular rebuttal.

‘What are you going to do? That’s what I’m saying.’

Since Kwak Min-cheol was the one without evidence, there was no reason to bow his head.

He could act confidently without being told off.

-That bastard Song Chi-hyeon.

Though it was a curse meant to be heard, it didn’t shake Choi Seong-min’s mental state.

“If you’ve asked everything you wanted to ask, may I go now? I need to hunt.”

“……”

“I’ll assume you’ve given permission and leave. Then, farewell.”

As soon as Choi Seong-min left the Association President’s office, Kwak Min-cheol exploded in frustration.

“Damn! This fucking bastard! Why has he become so detestable? He wasn’t originally this kind of personality?”

Even when threatened, he didn’t bat an eye, as if determined to be shameless.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

‘Could it be? The reason he’s being shameless is because he erased all the evidence?’

Otherwise, there was no way he could be so confident.

‘What should I do? If that bastard Song Chi-hyeon erased the evidence, there’s no way to publicly execute him?’

To just watch as the guy who killed his right-hand man gradually built up power and planned a coup.

Just thinking about it made him so heated he couldn’t sleep.

‘Shit, I can’t leave that bastard alone. I need to come up with a plan.’

Kwak Min-cheol picked up his phone and called somewhere.

He needed reinforcements to discuss this matter together.

---

Having safely passed Kwak Min-cheol’s interrogation, Choi Seong-min let out a sneer.

‘He probably thought to test me because he had no evidence, but not a chance.’

Even if he hid his thoughts, the guy’s intentions were easy to predict.

But there were also unexpected parts.

‘I didn’t know hunting would be discovered so quickly.’

He had wanted to hide the hunting but it was eventually discovered.

Since it had come to this, he could openly hunt with Song Chi-hyeon’s face, but…

‘There’s nothing good about stimulating Kwak Min-cheol, so I should lay low for a while.’

This didn’t mean he would stop hunting.

If Song Chi-hyeon couldn’t do it, he could just do it with Choi Seong-min’s face.

‘I can issue solo hunting permits with Song Chi-hyeon’s authority and go through dungeons in my original form.’

Though records would remain and frequent use could lead to accusations of power abuse, it didn’t matter.

‘After all, in 3 weeks, the whole world will know of Song Chi-hyeon’s death.’

He decided to use the power only until then.

Vrooom-

Choi Seong-min, who had left the Association, immediately drove to an S-rank dungeon.

He knew well where to go since he had marked it even before possession.

After about 1 hour and 30 minutes, Choi Seong-min arrived at his destination and returned to his original appearance.

There was no need to change his appearance.

‘Because the place I’m entering is a hidden dungeon.’

The entrance to the S-rank hidden dungeon, Spring of the Sun, was right before his eyes.