Chapter 9: Electrified Pond

100 SC for a single Lanyac.

With scores overflowing right before his eyes, he couldn’t just obediently pick Cloud Mushrooms and end the mission.

However, he needed to find a reliable method.

Lee Tae-sung stepped back for a moment.

The Lanyacs seemed to have a limit to their jumping ability; they stopped attacking once he moved a certain distance away from the pond.

‘But most of the trees where Cloud Mushrooms grow are within the Lanyacs’ range!’

If he moved thoughtlessly to gather the mushrooms, he would get too close to the lake and be attacked.

The key to this mission was finding trees that were outside the Lanyacs’ reach.

Searching the forest carefully, he found that although rare, some Cloud Mushrooms grew even far away from the lake.

-Ding!

[You have gathered a Cloud Mushroom.

You have acquired 5 SC.

Current Cloud Mushrooms gathered: 1/5]

A notification appeared as soon as he picked one.

‘I should gather the rest all at once later.’

The mission time limit was three hours.

He didn’t need to do it right now.

Instead, Lee Tae-sung went around collecting thick wood.

He picked up fallen branches and even cut down trees if he couldn’t find anything suitable.

Currently, he was only equipped with a short dagger.

However, when he performed the Flame Swordsmanship, sparks flew, which was at least somewhat helpful.

‘This time, I shouldn’t spend all the score I get on mana crystals.

I need to buy some equipment, too.’

When entering a mission, only basic clothes and a single dagger were provided.

However, if he had items purchased from the Score Shop, he could wear those.

After the first mission, he had been so excited by the high score that he spent it all on crystals, but now he needed to invest where it was necessary.

It might not matter for the next few times, but as the mission difficulty increased, he would need good gear.

-Whoosh!

He cut the wood, wove grass together, and used the flames to shape them.

Soon, a decent wooden shield was completed.

When he tapped it with his hand, it felt quite sturdy.

Since he had made it thick, it should hold up for a few hits.

After that, Lee Tae-sung approached the pond again.

He didn’t walk slowly like before.

He stepped forward confidently, fully guarded.

As he reached a certain distance, the Lanyacs leaped into the air.

-Thud! Thud!

But how could mere fish pierce a shield?

They bounced off after slamming their heads against it.

The shield was large enough to block most of them, and he swung his sword at those coming from the right.

-Whoosh!

-Slash!

The Flame Swordsmanship was fatal even to fish-shaped monsters.

-Ding!

[You have defeated a Lanyac.

You have acquired 100 SC.]

[You have defeated a Lanyac.

You have acquired 100 SC.]

He continued forward, splitting them in half mid-air.

Finally, he arrived at the edge of the pond.

Lee Tae-sung stabbed his sword upside down into the ground and raised his right hand.

-Crackle!

White lightning began to spark from his right hand.

It was the first manifestation of the Thunder Fist!

It wasn’t as loud or bright as when the official from the Crimson Brotherhood used it, but lightning was definitely swirling around his fist.

Lee Tae-sung thrust his hand directly into the pond.

-Zap! Crackle!

The lightning surged through the water in every direction.

Lee Tae-sung chuckled.

“First time getting an electric massage?”

It was a literal bolt from the blue for the Lanyacs, who had swarmed toward him thinking his hand was food.

With nowhere to hide and electricity flowing through the entire pond, they flipped onto their bellies and floated to the surface.

-Ding!

[You have defeated a Lanyac.

You have acquired 100 SC.]

[You have defeated a Lanyac.

You have acquired 100 SC.]

Notifications poured in relentlessly.

Lee Tae-sung smiled brightly but did not let his guard down.

He maintained the Thunder Fist at full power, keeping it active for several more seconds even after the Lanyacs were wiped out.

‘Ugh.’

Suddenly, his head spun with dizziness.

He stumbled for a moment before barely regaining his balance.

‘Damn. This is my mana…’

It was mana exhaustion.

He had never experienced this with Flame Swordsmanship because he only used it in short bursts, but the Thunder Fist consumed a large amount of mana per use and he had maintained it for a long time.

Consequently, he had drained his mana in an instant.

‘That was dangerous.’

It was lucky that the enemies were already annihilated; if this had happened during combat, he would have been momentarily vulnerable.

It was good to know this now so he could be careful in the future.

From now on, when using Thunder Fist, he would have to use it in short bursts and constantly check his mana levels.

‘And I need to find a way to increase my mana capacity.’

It would be a shame to have obtained a skill only to be unable to use it properly.

After clearing the dizziness with a few deep breaths, Lee Tae-sung began to move slowly.

With no more attacking Lanyacs, he gathered the Cloud Mushrooms comfortably.

-Ding!

[You have gathered a Cloud Mushroom.

You have acquired 5 SC.

Current Cloud Mushrooms gathered: 5/5]

The moment he collected all five: [You have successfully gathered 5 Cloud Mushrooms within the time limit.]

[Mission Success!]

[Returning to Earth.]

Lee Tae-sung’s vision was suddenly dyed in darkness.

***

When he blinked, he saw the familiar ceiling of his home. /

Lee Tae-sung had returned to reality.

‘This time, it didn’t give me a choice about returning to Earth.’

During the first mission, he could have waited longer on purpose, but just now, there was no choice.

What was the difference?

Did it depend on the type of mission?

He felt he would have to do a few more missions to find out.

Immediately afterward, Lee Tae-sung called Manager Song Sang-yeop.

Ring, ring—

Since he had told him he was entering a mission, the manager would be waiting.

Knowing he would be curious about the outcome, it was right to contact him.

-Yes, I’m here!

As if he had been waiting, Manager Song picked up before the phone even finished its first ring.

“Manager, I succeeded in the mission.”

-Oh!! Congratulations!

Manager Song’s voice brightened.

-How many points did you get?

“Hold on a moment.”

Lee Tae-sung opened his status window to check.

[Name: Lee Tae-sung]

[Skills: Dream, Flame Swordsmanship (Lv 3), Thunder Fist (Lv 1)]

[Current SC: 5025]

‘So I defeated 50 Lanyacs.’

It was 100 SC per fish, and he got 25 points from the Cloud Mushrooms, so the math was perfect.

There were quite a lot of them in that small pond, which looked like a little spring.

“It’s a little over 5,000 points,” Lee Tae-sung said, sounding slightly disappointed.

‘It’s only the second mission, and I’ve actually regressed compared to the first.’

He had earned over 6,000 points the first time, but this time it was only 5,000.

To Lee Tae-sung, it felt like a letdown.

However, that was only his perspective; for Manager Song, who was listening, it was entirely different.

-Ex… excuse me? How many points?

“5,000. It’s a bit less than last time, right?”

-No… no, no, no, no!!! Hold on a second!!!!

Even through the phone, Lee Tae-sung could tell how flustered Manager Song was.

From the moment Lee Tae-sung said he was going back into a mission, the manager had been half-expecting greatness and half-worried.

He was certain Lee Tae-sung had genius talent, but he worried he might make a mistake due to overconfidence.

And as if to make those worries feel foolish, Lee Tae-sung had succeeded perfectly.

-Good heavens!

You didn’t just clear the mission again?

5,000 points on your second mission…

Not just a simple clear, but earning such an enormous amount of points!

His voice grew distant for a moment as if he were talking to someone else.

It seemed there were other people around Manager Song.

-Hunter Lee?

“Yes.”

-I just told my colleagues next to me, and everyone is incredibly shocked and sending their congratulations.

Haha.

They told me to pass that on.

“Thank you.”

-You’ve really worked hard.

Are you going to buy mana crystals with all of it again this time?

“Um, no.

Not all of it.

I have somewhere else to use it.”

He couldn’t dump everything into mana crystals this time.

He had learned a lesson.

Manager Song seemed to have guessed as much.

-You’ve made a very wise decision.

I was actually going to suggest that; it’s better to invest in yourself for the next mission rather than focusing only on immediate income.

If you want any advice, please let me know.

I’ll do my best to help you as sincerely as possible.

“Yes. Thank you.”

-I’ll come visit you soon.

I’ll take over the new mana crystals then…

“Sure. I’ll see you then.”

After hanging up, Lee Tae-sung opened the Score Shop window to purchase items.

Instead of buying mana crystals right away, he carefully looked through the items this time.

‘I need to buy weapons and gear.’

In the game, it was fine to die.

Well, it wasn’t exactly fine since a random skill would disappear, but dying in the game didn’t mean dying in reality.

However, Hunter missions were different.

Last time, he had been blinded by the high score and the massive amount of money and bought only crystals, but now was the time to invest in himself.

‘Ugh. But why is everything so expensive?’

He thought 5,000 points was quite a lot, but in the shop, it was barely enough to buy a few items from the very early stages.

Of course, the shop had an almost infinite number of items from both Earth and other worlds, but as soon as something looked halfway decent, the price skyrocketed.

Since there wasn’t as much he could buy as he thought, Lee Tae-sung carefully examined what to get. He narrowed it down to three items.

[Basic Issue Longsword of the Kuramunt Empire]

[A longsword provided to knights of the Kuramunt Empire when they receive their title. It is sturdy and sharp.]

Required SC: 2500

[Leather Armor of the Red Wing Mercenaries]

[Leather armor made with the secret tanning techniques of a first-class mercenary group. It is light and durable.]

Required SC: 2400

[Gangpo Regiment Combat Gloves]

[Gloves made from fabric that has been hardened through a special refining method. Good for martial artists to wear.]

Required SC: 2900

These were the items Lee Tae-sung thought were worth buying.

The sword would help when performing Flame Swordsmanship, and the leather armor was for defense.

The gloves were gear for the Thunder Fist, which he had used effectively this time.

“Ha. Why is this so expensive?”

He couldn’t buy all three.

It was time for selection and focus.

Lee Tae-sung agonized over it before choosing two.

-Ding!

[You have purchased the Basic Issue Longsword of the Kuramunt Empire.]

[You have purchased the Leather Armor of the Red Wing Mercenaries.]

The combat gloves were the most expensive, and he figured using a weapon would be slightly safer than fighting up close, so he pushed them to a lower priority.

As soon as the purchase notification appeared, a magnificent longsword and a sturdy-looking set of leather armor appeared in front of him.

He propped them up neatly in a corner of his room. His remaining SC was now 125.

“Aw, damn. I spent it all.”

He couldn’t even buy a single mid-grade mana crystal.

At most, a single low-grade one.

Depending on international market rates, he could get roughly 100 to 150 thousand won for it.

While this was a large amount for a day’s wage, he had just made 70 million won recently.

It felt quite disappointing.

“Nothing I can do. I’ll just have to work harder.”

He planned to go on another mission soon.

He would check his gear level then, and if it felt sufficient, he’d spend most of the points on mana crystals.

But first, he had work to do in the game.

‘I need to fix my weaknesses.’

What was the point of having good skills if he suffered from mana exhaustion after using them briefly because his mana pool was too small?

Furthermore, he had nothing except attack skills.

He needed at least some techniques to block or escape when a powerful enemy appeared.

Things like defensive magic, lightfoot techniques, or movement spells.

-Ding!

[Welcome to Dream World.]

[Have a pleasant dream.]

As he lay down in the capsule, the voice spoke.

Lee Tae-sung closed his eyes.

All the possibilities lay within that world.

***

Upon connecting to Dream World, Lee Tae-sung moved immediately to find a servant.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, Master Lee Tae-sung.”

The servant’s attitude was even more polite than before.

It was because of the token at Lee Tae-sung’s waist that signified he was a second-class disciple.

The news that a third-class disciple had played a major role this time had spread quite far within the Flying Dragon Sect.

The servants knew well.

Usually, someone like this would be promoted quickly and rise much higher.

Naturally, they had to show respect in advance.

“Elder Dam Ho-pung told me to visit him later. Could you find out if I can visit him now?”

“Yes. I’ll be back in a moment.”

The servant moved with quick steps.

A short while later, he hurried back and spoke.

“I asked the servant attending the Elder, and he says you may visit now.”

“Thank you.”

“…! Not at all. I only did my duty.”

The servant was startled.

He had only done his job, yet he received a word of thanks.

Come to think of it, there were rumors that despite being an Outsider, his character was exceptionally good.

Lee Tae-sung then moved toward Elder Dam Ho-pung’s residence.

‘I wonder what he’ll give me.’

Since it was a gift from an Elder-level figure given for saving his life, it was bound to be an extraordinary item.

He was quite looking forward to it.