It had been a little over an hour since the boss battle began.
At first glance, the fight against the F-class dungeon boss, the Blood-thirsty Goblin Grand Warlord, seemed to be a fierce, see-saw struggle, but the reality was quite different.
Seong-jun had increased the boss’s overall stats by granting it the dark attribute, but Gwang-taek, a B-rank tanker, was blocking it efficiently.
Above all, every single attack was landing as a critical hit thanks to Holy Enchant.
Among them, Gwang-taek’s performance using B-rank artifacts was particularly outstanding.
He showed a powerful presence in both defense and offense, and alongside him, Yu-seon was constantly spamming her skills, rapidly draining the boss’s health.
Boom! Kaboom! Bang! Crash!
“Haha! This is easy! Too easy! Stun Charge!”
Thud!
Gwang-taek shouted the skill name as he slammed his shoulder into the boss. At the same time…
“Absorbing Strike!”
Crash!
His health was already being steadily restored by the Light of Healing, and with the occasional use of Absorbing Strike to drain health from the enemy, his HP didn’t even drop below 80 percent.
Because of this, Seong-jun was also playing aggressively, steadily casting Holy Arrow.
‘Holy Arrow.’
Whish!
Bang! Boom! Thump! Crash!
Holy Arrow, which deals double damage to dark-attribute monsters, was landing critical hits every time due to Holy Weapon Enchant.
As a result, the damage Seong-jun dealt was nearly equal to the damage Gwang-taek dealt with his B-rank sword.
“There’s not much left! It looks like it’s time for the boss to use its ultimate skill, so don’t relax until the very end! Yu-seon, keep an eye on the situation and hide behind a pillar quickly if you have to!”
As the boss’s health plummeted toward the bottom, Seong-jun gave a stern warning.
This was because special boss-only skills were triggered once their health dropped below a certain point.
While it varied slightly depending on the type of boss, the difference was usually only around 10 percent, so he cautioned his party members.
“Don’t worry! As long as it’s not an area-of-effect skill, I’ll block most things! Hahaha!”
“You better. Well, even so, once we block that one big hit, there won’t be much left after that. It’ll be a straight shot to the finish. So, let’s give it a little more strength.”
Just as Seong-jun said, if they could endure the final ultimate skill, there were no other significant risk factors.
And then.
“Krawaaaaaaaa!”
The boss’s final struggle began.
“It’s the ultimate! Brother!”
The club in the Goblin Grand Warlord’s hand began to emit a deep, blood-red aura, and it soon unleashed a powerful ultimate skill.
Rumble!
It was a truly massive wave of energy, but…
“Iron Wall Aura!”
As Gwang-taek, holding his B-rank shield, cast the powerful defensive skill Iron Wall Aura, the attack was blocked quite anti-climactically.
Crash! Boom! Bang!
It was the result of the B-rank shield, Iron Wall Aura, and various buffs combined with Holy Armor Enchant.
“That’s it! Let’s wrap this up!”
Since they had blocked the ultimate skill—which was effectively its last-ditch effort—nothing stood in their way anymore.
Yu-seon and Seong-jun engaged in the attack even more aggressively.
***
About twenty minutes after the boss unleashed its ultimate skill.
“Kughhhhhh.”
Eventually, its health hit zero, and the massive body of the Goblin Grand Warlord collapsed.
Thud!
At the same time, a notification sound signaling the end of the battle rang out.
[The F-class dungeon boss [Blood-thirsty Goblin Grand Warlord] has been defeated. The dungeon has been cleared.]
“Wow! We really caught the boss by ourselves. Haha!”
“It’s all thanks to Seong-jun. If it weren’t for his buffs, it probably would have taken an eternity to catch it.”
Although Gwang-taek had re-awakened as a B-rank tanker and held a B-rank shield and sword, he was still a tanker and lacked a powerful offensive skill.
Despite that, the reason they could hunt so quickly was due to Seong-jun’s various buffs and his ability to change the boss’s attribute to darkness.
“That goes without saying.”
While Gwang-taek and Yu-seon were rejoicing over clearing the boss, Seong-jun was hearing different notification sounds.
[You have gained a large amount of experience. Level up.]
[By leveling up, you have attained the status suitable for the next rank. Your rank has increased by one level.]
[New skills have been created due to the level up and rank increase.]
[The efficiency of existing skills has significantly increased due to the rank increase.]
By catching elites and eventually the boss, he had gained a massive amount of experience, and as a result, he finally reached level 3.
Furthermore, his rank had increased as well.
‘Finally, a level up! And as expected, my rank went up too. The boss experience must have been quite substantial.’
He had expected it would take at least another day or two of hunting to level up, but thanks to hunting the boss, his level rose immediately.
Name: Kim Seong-jun
Class: [B-rank] Combat Priest [3/10]
Title: [Successor of Almia Jaelin]
Strength: 8,940 / Agility: 9,990 / Stamina: 28,300
Divine Power: 133,500+ [300,000] / Vitality: 283,000
Skills
Passive: Holy Heart [3/10], Priest Combat Arts [2/10], Blunt Weapon Mastery [2/10], Holy Body [1/10]
Active: Dark Attribute Infusion [2/10], Flurry of Enlightenment [1/10], Holy Arrow [3/10], Holy Attack [1/10], Blade of Light [1/10], Divine Healing [2/10], Light of Healing [3/10], Fast Heal [2/10], Sanctuary [1/10], Holy Weapon Enchant [3/10], Holy Armor Enchant [3/10], Wind Walker [5/10], Body of Steel [5/10], Elemental Blessing [5/10], Strength of Steel [5/10], Stamina of Steel [5/10], Cure [2/10]
Seong-jun’s status window, now risen to B-rank, showed a significant difference compared to when he was C-rank.
First, all of his ability stats had increased more than tenfold, and his Divine Power had also jumped more than ten times.
New skills were also added.
Holy Body was added to the passives, and active skills like Holy Attack, Blade of Light, and Sanctuary were added.
Above all, while his level was still low, his rank increase caused the efficiency of his skills to rise drastically.
In other words, even if it was the same level 3 Holy Arrow, its damage was clearly higher compared to when he was C-rank.
‘A few more attack spells were added, too. At this rate, we could probably clear an E-class dungeon with just this group.’
He felt a bit lacking in terms of firepower to tackle a D-class dungeon.
Although several more high-damage attack skills were created for Seong-jun, his class was ultimately a healer.
Since Gwang-taek had re-awakened as a tanker, Yu-seon was the only proper damage dealer left in the party.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible to attack a D-class dungeon, but it was obvious that their efficiency would drop significantly.
On the other hand, he judged that they could clear an E-class dungeon quickly with this personnel.
While Seong-jun was checking his status window and lost in thought…
“Oh! Wait! Isn’t this a loot drop?”
A longsword had fallen next to the collapsed boss. It was a loot item that dropped based on probability.
“Ooh! Since it’s loot from a boss, it must be E-rank.”
If a boss dropped loot, it was guaranteed to provide an artifact one rank higher than the dungeon itself.
Because of this, Gwang-taek hurriedly picked up the sword to check it.
“We’ll know once we check it. Oh! It really is E-rank!”
It was their first time hunting a boss and their first time getting boss loot, so Gwang-taek checked it just in case—and as expected, it was an E-rank artifact.
“What about the skills? Does it happen to have any special skill options?”
“No, unfortunately, there are no skill options. Still, with this, we should be able to get about 15 to 20 million for it.”
If a special skill were attached, they could have received at least 30 million, but since there was none, it was hard to expect that much.
However, because it was E-rank, he estimated they could get between 15 and 20 million.
It was a type of sword in high demand, and the options weren’t bad for a damage dealer or a tanker.
“I’ll buy that sword, so you use it, Gwang-taek.”
At Seong-jun’s unexpected remark, Gwang-taek wore a puzzled expression.
“Huh? Me?”
“Anyway, the shield and sword you’re wearing now will be put up for auction, and the proceeds will be shared between me and Yu-seon. Then you won’t have a weapon to use right away, so use that for now. Think of it as a gift from me for your re-awakening.”
The sword and shield Gwang-taek previously used were F-rank, and the B-rank sword and shield he was currently using were scheduled to be auctioned.
Since an E-rank sword had appeared, Seong-jun was offering to pay for it and give it to him as a re-awakening gift.
Yu-seon smiled and spoke up.
“There’s no need for that; just give it to Gwang-taek. I’ll also consider it a gift for his re-awakening.”
In any case, they were about to receive an enormous amount of money just from selling the gold coins and B-rank artifacts they brought out of the ruins.
Seong-jun and Yu-seon would be splitting that.
They were in a situation where they could take home billions, or even over 10 billion won, so what did a mere tens-of-millions-of-won E-rank artifact matter?
“Ha, haha, thanks. I was actually getting to the point where I needed an equipment upgrade, so this is great. Even if I take the re-awakening test, I’ll be running E-class dungeons for a while, so the rank is just right. I’ll use it well.”
If he rose to B-rank through the re-awakening test, he planned to enter E-class dungeons immediately, and he had intended to look for an E-rank shield and sword accordingly.
But an E-rank sword had appeared at just the right time, and Seong-jun and Yu-seon had yielded it to him.
While Gwang-taek held up the sword and smiled with satisfaction…
[A Dungeon Clear Reward Box has been created.]
The highlight of a boss raid, the reward box, appeared.
“The clear reward box!”
“That’s right! There was this! Wow! I never thought I’d see a dungeon clear reward box in my life!”
The joy over the loot drop was brief; their attention soon shifted to the dungeon clear reward box.
“I don’t know what’s inside, but let’s open it first.”
Seong-jun approached the reward box and opened it immediately.
Click!
Creeeeeak!
As the box opened, it contained roughly 50 gold coins and a necklace that looked like an artifact.
“There are about 50 gold coins, and the necklace seems to be an artifact. Let’s check them slowly and hurry up and get out. It might get annoying if other people show up.”
When leaving a dungeon, everything obtained inside must be reported, so the Association would eventually find out they hunted the boss.
However, that was a separate matter.
If a specialized boss raid team arrived right now, things could get complicated, so he judged it best to pack up and leave quickly.
“I suppose that’s for the best. Let’s pack up and go.”
And so, Seong-jun, Gwang-taek, and Yu-seon hurriedly gathered the rewards and left the boss room.
***
A day had passed since Seong-jun’s party raided the F-class dungeon boss.
Gwang-taek, who took the re-awakening test early in the morning, was finally able to hold his B-rank tanker registration card by around 3 PM.
“Haha! Look! It’s a B-rank registration card!”
Gwang-taek showed off his re-awakened registration card with a flushed face.
“It looks totally different from an F-rank card. Wow! I’m so jealous. I wonder when I’ll ever get a card that looks like that.”
At Yu-seon’s words, Seong-jun replied with a smile.
“If we keep hunting hard, one will turn up. Next time another high-grade awakening stone appears, I’ll definitely give it to you, Yu-seon, so don’t worry.”
Both Seong-jun and Gwang-taek had re-awakened, and Yu-seon was the only one left.
They had promised to give her priority if another high-grade awakening stone was found.
“But if another high-grade stone comes out and I re-awaken, Gwang-taek and I will be high-rank, but you’re still a D-rank healer, Seong-jun. Will you be okay?”
They still didn’t know that Seong-jun’s rank rose as his level increased.
Thus, they still believed Seong-jun was D-rank.
In response to Yu-seon’s worried question, Seong-jun said with a smile.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I have my ways.”
They would find out once he reached A-rank and took the re-awakening test, but for now, he had no intention of revealing it.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but the fewer people who knew about such things, the better.
“Well, look who’s worrying about who.”
In the current situation, Yu-seon had the lowest rank in the party.
She wasn’t in a position to be worrying about others.
Chuckling at her, Seong-jun looked at Gwang-taek and asked.
“Oh, by the way, I saw you were surrounded by guild scouts earlier. Did you get any offers from decent guilds?”
Tankers and healers were always in short supply.
This shortage became even more severe at higher ranks.
Since a B-rank tanker had suddenly appeared, it was natural for guilds to be interested.
“Don’t be surprised. I received recruitment offers from three of the top ten guilds in the country. Of course, I rejected them flatly on the spot, so don’t worry. Haha.”
As Gwang-taek spoke while shrugging his shoulders, Seong-jun said with a smile.
“Aren’t you acting a bit too proud of something so obvious? Don’t even think about going anywhere until at least Yu-seon re-awakens.”
“Haha, I have no intention of going anywhere even after Yu-seon re-awakens. Like I said yesterday, we’re going all the way together.”
Whether it was because of absolute trust, Gwang-taek said he planned to stay together without a moment’s hesitation.
Then, Yu-seon chimed into the conversation.
“Oh! Right! The media is buzzing about a B-rank ruin appearing in an F-class dungeon.”
Unless one had a sub-space, nothing could be hidden or smuggled out.
The moment one left a dungeon, a thorough inspection by Association staff took place.
Therefore, the fact that Seong-jun’s party discovered a B-rank ruin was bound to be revealed.
“It’s only been a day and it’s already out? That was fast. It’s a relief we kept our identities private; otherwise, there would have been so many annoying things to deal with.”
When someone discovered something like a ruin in a dungeon, they often chose to keep their identity private.
This was to block everything from reporters to pleas for money from acquaintances.
Seong-jun’s party had also chosen to remain anonymous.
“If we had gone public, every distant relative we’ve never met would be swarming us right now. Anyway, I wonder how the auction is going? When I checked this morning, both were a bit over 8 billion won. I wonder if they’re still there or if they went up? Should I check?”
Yu-seon hurriedly took out her phone and checked the auction status.
“Let’s see… gasp! Wh-what?!”
As Yu-seon checked the auction, her eyes widened in shock.
“What is it? Did something go wrong?”
When Gwang-taek asked out of curiosity, Yu-seon showed her phone screen and said.
“They both exceeded 10 billion! The shield is at 10.5 billion, and the sword is at 11.8 billion!”
Even though there was still time left before the auction closed, both the shield and the sword had passed the 10 billion won mark.
“The special skill options on the sword and the shield were so good that I thought they both might pass 10 billion, and it turned out exactly as expected.”
Of course, Seong-jun had predicted both would exceed 10 billion because the options on the artifacts were just that good.
Regardless, once the auction ended, an enormous amount of money would be in their hands—enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about money again.
—
I Became an EX-Class Universal Priest Episode 16
E-book Release Date: 2025.11.14
Author | Kim Hyun-jun
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Gun-won
Publishing House | Poten
Address | 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul [04783]
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585
ISBN 9791175302167
Price | Not for Sale
© Kim Hyun-jun 2025
This e-book is a work protected by copyright law.
This e-book was published under a contract with the author, and unauthorized redistribution, reproduction, distribution, or sharing without written consent from both parties is prohibited.