Just in case, I reviewed the calculations I had made before entering, trying to recall the information.
But there was nothing wrong with my memory.
“Pirarucu is definitely a monster with high defense and an enormous amount of stamina.”
Of course, it was true that it had many achievements and was equipped with good gear, so its threat level was remarkably high.
However, Pirarucu was an elite monster, not an ordinary one.
Its stamina was so high that a normal party of three had to focus their attacks for about five minutes to take it down.
Of course, it could be considered a critical hit since I attacked its weak spot—the belly—but even without that, it was still a relatively easy hunt.
“A bug?”
ASA had been praised as the most perfect game where not a single bug appeared until 2040.
Naturally, it was a joke, but my mind was searching for other reasons.
“No way…”
I turned my head and stared at the Half-Dragon dagger in my hand.
The one thing I couldn’t compare with my memory.
The only thing I hadn’t accounted for in my calculations.
It was just one.
The Half-Dragon’s bleeding poison.
“No way.”
Though I denied it with my mouth, I checked the DPS status for the recent hunt in the settings window.
[Tamed Pirarucu]
- Normal attack: 55%
- Bleeding Poison: 37%
- Summoning: 8%
Looking at the DPS status, I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“All thanks to Kasaka… Kasaka, thank you so much.”
I held the Half-Dragon with both hands, marveling at the unexpectedly smooth hunt.
The experience points were already more than enough, but it was thanks to this hunt that I could relax easily.
Simply put, for Dahav, hunting Pirarucu now was…
“Piece of cake.”
The Pirarucus that used to look like newbie-killer monsters now only looked like walking experience chunks.
The tense atmosphere vanished, replaced by a bright smile, as if I had just received the gift I wanted on Christmas.
***
The position of a Super Player couldn’t be reached by talent alone.
Of course, if you had overwhelming talent, you could reach it by any means.
But if you did, your debut as a Super Player would be delayed, and now, with abundant resources, there was no need to take that route.
“No need to go around when there’s a shortcut.”
The fastest way to become a Super Player was to build public recognition—that is, becoming the owner of a famous I-tube channel.
Not only could you become a Super Player by succeeding on I-tube, but you could also gain video views, subscribers, advertising revenue, and the corresponding earnings.
To become such a channel owner, the player’s skills were important, but video editing and producers were extremely crucial.
Even uploading the same video could have drastically different view counts depending on the editing.
That made it all the more difficult to decide.
“Can I defeat the Cave’s boss monster alone…?”
Editors usually formed win-win strategies by finding high-earning players.
Such people were commonly called AJ or Projectors.
“And what stands out most in AJ’s eyes is, of course, the boss raid content.”
Boss raid content, which could bring high income, was always the center of attention for AJs.
Moreover, the AJ Dahav was about to contract was an extraordinary monster capable of resurrecting even dead content without exaggeration.
It was like a godly creature that needed careful preparation.
My brain kept hitting the abacus as I stopped calculating for a moment.
“Killing it isn’t a problem at all.”
Although it was a level where one could die once in Wilhelm, that only applied when unprepared for the patterns and tactics.
Now, knowing the patterns and strategies and being prepared accordingly, a one-coin clear was entirely possible.
But there was a huge difference between aiming just to clear and aiming for the clear itself.
In other words, just killing it was meaningless.
The ASA field was vast, and the boss monsters were diverse.
Thanks to that, hundreds of raid videos were uploaded on I-tube daily.
And when it came to raid guild videos, naturally, people preferred watching videos of large guilds or companies that guaranteed both fun and skill rather than those of random individuals.
“To surpass them, you must definitely have showmanship.”
In other words, even when hunting a boss monster, you had to consider showmanship for the audience and viewers.
I tapped the abacus again, calculating whether I could do that.
“For now, it’s impossible.”
Unless it was a boss at around level 10, the Cave boss monster’s strength exceeded imagination.
I had the Half-Dragon skill to protect my neck in emergencies, but I didn’t have skills like Nazarik’s that could quickly restore stamina.
“Well, I am almost level 20.”
Level 19, 97%.
Thanks to the experience bonus from the “Explorer” achievement, I had made remarkable progress in just two days.
And ASA’s system granted new job skills at certain levels like 20 and 40.
That meant new skills would appear soon, but since I hadn’t directly raised a Monster Pioneer before, I didn’t even know which skills I would get.
Even if good new skills appeared, it would still be challenging to balance showmanship and those skills.
“Unless I get Link Cadaver.”
But considering the ability of the skill, it was unlikely to appear at level 20.
Though it was disappointing, I had no choice but to hold back.
“I guess I’ll just have to kill the boss monster without filming the video this time.”
Just then, as I was about to level up to 20, the gruesome figure of Pirarucu appeared before my eyes.
Kuah—!
When it came to hunting, my body instinctively reacted first.
I charged straight at Pirarucu and naturally slid in, aiming for its throat.
From then on, it was a one-sided fight.
I only showed one move at a time so Pirarucu couldn’t learn my “pattern.”
As a result, Pirarucu fell easily, almost ridiculously so.
[Tamed Pirarucu has been killed.]
[You have gained 10,000 experience points.]
[Additional experience points of 10,000 gained due to the Explorer achievement!]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 20.]
[You have acquired the new skill “Link Cadaver!”]
Dahav’s mouth dropped open as he stared dumbfounded at the message window.
“No way, seriously?!”
The level up wasn’t surprising.
But the last message, “You have acquired Link Cadaver,” was a thrilling sentence that made my heart pound.
“No way, seriously? At level 20? Link Cadaver? It’s just a name that sounds the same, right?”
Though my words were full of doubt, I couldn’t suppress an undeniable smile as I opened the skill window and tapped on “Link Cadaver.”
[Link Cadaver (Lvl. 1)]
- Increases mana efficiency of Rebirth Skills by 50%, and shares status with summoned undead.
- Increases Ghouls’ stats by 10% of the summoner’s (+) total stats.
Dahav stared blankly at the message window in disbelief.
“This is crazy, the job is insane…”
Link Cadaver.
It was the name of the skill that made the Monster Pioneer job much more like a summoner.
It was no wonder since Link Cadaver’s two options were so overpowered that they were called cheats.
First, the 50% increase in mana efficiency for Rebirth Skills.
Normally, the summoned undead and Ghouls by Rebirth were never unsummoned as long as the summoner had mana.
No matter how deadly the attack, or even if they were made incapacitated, they would recover on their own thanks to this trait.
If the summoner’s mana was maintained, they were effectively immortal.
In other words, the increased mana efficiency of Link Cadaver made the summoned undead even closer to immortality, a supreme advantage.
But this was nothing compared to the second ability.
Increasing Ghouls’ stats by 10% of the summoner’s total stats.
Even at a glance, the power of this ability was clear, especially now, with many achievements and various unique-grade gear equipped.
The effect was even more tangible.
“Considering that stats increase by 5 to 10 points per level…”
My Ghouls effectively rose about three levels all at once.
It might sound trivial, but it wasn’t just one Ghoul benefiting—it was three.
And on top of that, add the advanced mana efficiency from Plus Alpha.
“If my current Ghouls hunted Pirarucu…”
The answer came easily, and it didn’t take long to calculate.
“There’s no way I can lose.”
I wouldn’t need to reveal my patterns move by move like I did just now.
Just imagining it made me excited, and a strong gale escaped my lips.
I wanted to enjoy that feeling fully, but before that, something I had to do came to mind.
Calculations for killing the Cave boss monster.
“Considering the existing high threat level, the insect spray I prepared, the Half-Dragon’s bleeding poison skill, and the strengthened Ghouls thanks to Link Cadaver, let’s see…”
I forgot that this was a dungeon and got lost in deep thought.
***
Not long after, a smile appeared at the corner of Dahav’s mouth.
“Okay.”
While hunting Pirarucu, I naturally had to get used to the dungeon’s geography.
During my exploration, I found a huge door—that was the entrance to the boss room.
So it didn’t take long to reach the boss room.
“I can do it, I can do it.”
Dahav muttered to himself as if hypnotizing himself, placing his palm on the giant stone door.
Ding—!
[Boss Monster, Hagwid Elwin’s Research Lab. Do you wish to enter?]
[Once entered, leaving is impossible until death. Please choose carefully.]
But like before, I couldn’t answer immediately.
If you asked when the most nerve-wracking moment was before a challenge, it was undoubtedly right before pressing yes.
No matter how hard I tried to calm myself, it wasn’t easy.
Especially since this was my debut stage as a Super Player, the pressure and tension were intense.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Seep. Haah…”
At least the muscles that had been stiff started to loosen up.
When aiming for the best result, you shouldn’t be too tense or too relaxed.
A slight shiver of tension and sensitive nerves.
It might have been hard to understand or grasp without experiencing it, but I had always used this method from my early days to clearly remember that thrilling, precarious feeling.
Just as I was absorbed in balancing tension and nerves with my eyes closed—
Bang—!
The familiar alarm sound echoed in my head, and I opened my eyes wide, saying,
“I’m entering.”
Ding—!
[Entering the Research Lab!]
A burst of bright light filled the space, and my vision shifted.
The dirty and cluttered alley was gone, replaced by a room where Pirarucu and Amorphopallus were preserved inside test tubes.
At the center of the room stood a terrifyingly gigantic insect contained within a test tube.
In front of that test tube, a man wearing a black robe was laughing maniacally.
“Kuahaha! I don’t know how you found the location, but unfortunately, the research is already finished, and I’ve created the ultimate bug by gathering more than I should! Finally, Hagwid Elwin can become an official member of the Black Robe Church!”
Hearing the boss monster Hagwid Elwin’s words, Dahav’s head went numb.
“The Black Robe Church?”
“Oh, don’t be afraid, you incompetent one. You should feel honored to be the first offering to Hagwid Elwin, who is destined to become the leader of the Black Robe Church. So rest peacefully.”
There were many things I wanted to ask, but unfortunately, Elwin didn’t give me time.
Raising his hand, Elwin infused mana into the Titan Arum, and the internal devices slowly began to move.
Ssam-gurang!
The glass tank that had contained the bug shattered, and the “gathered anomaly” Elwin mentioned revealed its horrific form.
“This is the most perfect monster ever created by my hand, Amor de Croixoruc!”
It was a giant cockroach—or rather, a chimera.
Its wings were several times its body size, gigantic antennae like horns, a golden body shining brightly, and sharp, thorn-like spikes that looked capable of causing serious injury with just a scratch.
Even watching it on video was terrifying, but seeing it in person was even worse.
Thinking about being eaten by such a monstrosity left no room for any other thoughts.
“Well, let’s finish this raid first, then we’ll think about it.”
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