Chapter 3 – Sorcery (1)

All the secrets of the Three Talents Mind Method that Nan-seol had learned settled into Sun-woo’s head and body as if he had learned them directly himself.

Sun-woo naturally began to awaken the unknown power called “qi” along the virtual pathways formed within his body.

Thump!

At that moment, it felt like a small light that had been sleeping inside his body was awakening. A thread-like small qi began to move through his body. It was a mystical experience.

“Oh, the monster is changing!”

Sun-woo, who had been swimming in meditation along with the qi, had no choice but to open his eyes at the shout coming from outside.

Quite some time had passed. People were sitting freely in their places, and only Nan-seol was standing in front of Sun-woo with her sword drawn, keeping watch of the surroundings.

She had protected him while Sun-woo was lost in trance.

As Daniel had said, the horned gorilla gradually changed form and became an ordinary red gorilla without horns.

That wasn’t all. The gloomy bamboo forest had somehow returned to its original green forest, and the fur of the dead gorillas was also losing its black color and changing back to its original red.

“Ah, red-furred star beasts. Could this have been the Red Hair Valley?”

Nan-seol seemed to have recognized where this place was. Everyone looked at Nan-seol with curious expressions, but the answer came from elsewhere.

[Dimension Delta. All contamination in Red Hair Valley has been purified. Everyone will return in 30 seconds. The next expected summoning time is in 24 hours.]

When the voice ended, people looked at each other.

“They’re calling us again? The money is good, but being forcibly dragged around like this is really annoying.”

“Since it doesn’t seem to be a dream, I think I should go back and ask for advice from the mage.”

Following Michael’s grumbling, Daniel spoke with a serious expression. But Daniel’s plan was bound to be blocked from the start.

[Finally, what happened here cannot be disclosed to ordinary people. If leaked to the outside, all points and rewards will be recovered and additional sanctions will be imposed.]

Everyone’s faces hardened. They felt like they had gotten involved in something wrong. Amid everyone’s silence, the return time came.

“Since it has come to this, I’ll see you next time.”

The group disappeared from the bamboo forest with Nan-seol’s farewell bow.

***

Time passed quickly. And people returned to their respective worlds to prepare for the next summoning in their own ways.

Sun-woo sighed while looking at the monitor. This was a game where he had continuously maintained the overall ranking of 1st place. He had been staying up all night to barely maintain his ranking, but now it seemed difficult to maintain his position.

He turned off the computer with regretful hands and waited for the summoning.

***

The next day, Dimension Gamma.

The place where Sun-woo and the others were summoned again was the middle slope of a low mountain. The group was summoned to a wide rock that jutted out, and thanks to this, they could see the surroundings at a glance.

This place had dense tropical forests spread out, and at the bottom of the mountain, a small village with old huts gathered together was located.

“Is the village the target?”

The trees around the village had changed to murky colors. It was definitely contaminated. The group all looked down at the village.

Nan-seol, who could see the farthest due to her martial arts, frowned as she looked at the village.

“They’re not human? Setting aside the dark color, their size is quite small and their body shape is different. They look like dwarves…”

At the mention of “dark color,” Michael, who was black, snorted.

Her question was answered by Daniel.

“It’s a goblin village. I couldn’t recognize them immediately because their skin color had changed.”

Dimension Gamma. This was Daniel’s dimension.

[This is the second mission. Level 2 contamination has occurred 500 meters to the east. Please eliminate it quickly.]

The same voice as before was transmitted to everyone according to their respective cultures.

“Hahaha, bring them all on. I had a great time after a long while. Let’s finish this quickly and go back!”

Michael excitedly beat his chest. He seemed to have enjoyed himself greatly for a day with the money he got from points.

But the other people’s expressions weren’t so bright. Although there were rewards called points, being forced to perform dangerous missions couldn’t be good.

“I did apply for leave from the knight order, but if this continues like this, there will be problems.”

At Daniel’s words, the others also nodded. Nan-seol used the excuse of personal training, and Hayden was on vacation, but they were the same.

Sun-woo had also taken a short leave, but he couldn’t last long like this.

“I didn’t have any operations anyway. This job pays better, so I’m thinking of skipping the next operation too.”

Michael seemed to prefer receiving missions.

But they couldn’t just sigh here. If they delayed, they might be pressed for time like the previous mission.

The group came down from the rock and began running through the tropical forest. Sun-woo also hardened his expression and chased after the group.

Sun-woo had spent a difficult time during the day. Unlike the group, he was a civilian who had never directly experienced combat.

Although he said he had lived a hard life, it was nonsense compared to the others. After much conflict and worry during the day, he was able to somewhat pull himself together.

Sun-woo turned on his phone to check his skills.

<Three Talents Qigong 1 Star> Grade increase: 50p

It was qigong that had immediately become 1 star after yesterday’s brief trance. But it hadn’t improved any further since then. Points were needed to advance to the next stage.

Sun-woo spread the qigong throughout his entire body. Although it was only 1-star qigong, he could feel strength surging up. He began running following Nan-seol.

***

The group traversed the forest in their own ways.

Daniel moved forward by steadily cutting through the bushes blocking his path, and Nan-seol leaped between trees, striding ahead.

Hayden was moving while using telekinesis to clear blocking grass, but Michael had somehow disappeared from Sun-woo’s sight.

In the forest near the village, dark-skinned goblins were patrolling.

Their behavior wasn’t much different from ordinary goblins, but their reddened eyes and drool flowing from their mouths made them impossible to see as normal goblins.

There was also one goblin wandering around in front where the group was approaching. The goblin holding a studded wooden club was growling and approaching the group.

Cough!

The goblin that had been moving forward while looking around opened its mouth wide at the pain felt in its neck. But the goblin couldn’t scream due to the hand covering its mouth.

“First one down.”

Michael smiled while covering the goblin’s mouth. He had stabbed a dagger into the goblin’s neck from behind. Having finished camouflaging at some point, he was hard to distinguish from the surrounding bushes.

Michael, who had stopped briefly, confirmed Nan-seol falling onto another goblin and melted back into the bushes.

Nan-seol, who had jumped down from a tree and deeply thrust her sword into the back of the goblin below, looked back with a surprised expression. Sun-woo was following right behind.

Yesterday, he was a person who couldn’t be felt to have even a grain of martial arts, but in just one day, he was skillfully using qigong.

Although he was running crudely without knowing movement techniques, if he also obtained movement techniques like yesterday, there was no telling what kind of appearance he would show.

Nan-seol shook her head slightly and dashed forward again. There were still enemies remaining.

***

Sun-woo stood in the place where Nan-seol had left and breathed deeply. He had definitely changed from yesterday. The mysterious power called qi was making him stronger.

Gurgle, gurgle.

At Sun-woo’s feet, the goblin stabbed by Nan-seol’s sword was breathing its last. It would definitely die in a little more time.

Sun-woo, who still had energy left, had stopped here because there was something he needed to confirm. He picked up the club that had fallen on the ground and glared at the dying goblin.

The opponent was an intelligent being that wore clothes, albeit old ones, and used tools. But if he couldn’t kill enemies, he definitely wouldn’t be able to survive in the future.

Sun-woo gritted his teeth and brought down the club.

Thud!

With a loud sound, the goblin died. At the same time, a voice was heard in Sun-woo’s ear.

[You have eliminated a Level 1 contaminated creature. Grade achievement rate has increased slightly. An additional 5 points are awarded.]

A smile formed on Sun-woo’s face. It was as expected. There was no way someone who used games as weapons would only be given the same type of rewards as others. Certainly, the system was operating in game form for him.

Sun-woo began running again. He needed to collect the points that others had spilled.

Shortly after, the group was able to safely arrive at a hill near the village. It was thanks to Nan-seol and Michael eliminating the patrol soldiers. And Sun-woo was able to raise his points and achievement rate two more times.

The goblin village was very desolate. Dark-skinned goblins were wandering around the village, and baby goblins and female goblins were nowhere to be seen.

The group decided to attack the village immediately.

Michael, who had brought down a considerable number of goblins with just a small knife, suggested charging straight into the village, and Nan-seol and Daniel didn’t object. This was because the goblins they met on the way weren’t very strong.

Like last time, Hayden said nothing, and although Sun-woo raised a slightly opposing voice, there was no one to respond to the words of a civilian.

With a silent signal, Nan-seol and the two warriors ran forward. And behind them, Hayden and Sun-woo followed.

Bang!

With the first gunshot as a signal, the three people in front began processing goblins while crossing the main road. The path leading to the village center was turning into a path of blood.

Although he was learning qigong, Sun-woo still couldn’t help in combat. Instead, he followed behind and captured their battles as much as possible with his eyes.

Watching Daniel receive clubs with his armor and cut down goblins with his greatsword, he thought,

“Strength warrior, or offensive tank.”

And Nan-seol, who dodged all attacks and swiftly swung her sword, was,

“Agility warrior with one-shot power.”

Michael, who, contrary to his personality, was steadily putting one bullet each into goblin heads, was categorized as a ranged attacker.

“Then what type am I?”

Hayden casually asked a question from the side. He seemed to have heard Sun-woo muttering. Sun-woo glanced at him and answered.

“Stun. Or short-term telekinetic.”

At Sun-woo’s words, Hayden chuckled. Hayden thought he should show Sun-woo his real skills.

Hayden stepped forward and stretched out both hands.

When he spread his hands, a goblin that had been waiting for an opportunity behind a building floated up into the sky and shortly after was smashed into the ground and died.

Hayden looked back at Sun-woo with a confident expression, but Sun-woo was looking elsewhere with a hardened expression. Over there were the other group members approaching the village center.

“The contamination level was definitely grade 2. But the contaminated goblins are much weaker than yesterday’s beasts. They say there are many of them, but it was manageable enough.”

Sun-woo, whose mind suddenly became alert, began running forward.

“Damn, then that means the contamination source is much stronger.”

Sun-woo tried to shout to warn the group, but he was a bit late.

Boom!

With an explosive sound, one house in the center burst out like it had been hit by a bomb, and a goblin jumped out.

The goblin holding an old iron sword charged at Daniel, who was closest, and fortunately Daniel calmly raised his greatsword to face him.

Clang!

Swords collided between the two. The greatsword wielded by the large-bodied Daniel and the old long sword wielded by the frail goblin clashed, but absurdly, it was Daniel who was knocked back.

Daniel crashed into the opposite hut, smashing it and getting buried inside.

Surprised Nan-seol cut down the goblin in front of her and charged at the goblin that had faced Daniel.

Soon the group would witness an amazing sight. The goblin began moving at tremendous speed.

The goblin moved at a speed that overwhelmed Nan-seol, and she began to be pushed back instead.

Because Nan-seol and the goblin were moving too fast, Michael couldn’t shoot and Hayden couldn’t target either.

“Where did such a monster pop out from! Its appearance isn’t much different from the other ones!”

Like Michael’s shout, the creature didn’t differ much from other goblins.

“If there’s no difference from other goblins but it’s several times faster and stronger?”

Sun-woo hurriedly looked around. And he saw another goblin on one side of the burst house.

That goblin had a very aged appearance, wore accessories all over its body, and stood holding a long staff.

Sun-woo pointed his phone at the goblin. If he could see allies’ abilities, he might be able to see enemies’ abilities too.

Fortunately, it was as Sun-woo expected.

This old goblin shaman was the contamination source. This shaman was enhancing the goblin fighting Nan-seol from behind.

Sun-woo gripped his phone tightly.