As Seong-jun looked up at the statue of the goddess, her voice reached him once again-Calling a being from another dimension here is not an easy task, even for a god.
Though I have poured considerable power into this, the time granted to me is not long.
Therefore, I will speak quickly and get to the core of the matter.
Grow.
And conquer the dungeons.
On the day you unlock all the power contained within the essence of Hermia Jeryn, you will be able to get a little closer to the truth.
At the goddess’s words, Seong-jun spoke with a calm expression.
“I’m going to conquer dungeons and grow even if you don’t tell me to. If you called me here just to say something so obvious, I’m disappointed.”
From the moment he inherited the power of Hermia Jeryn, Seong-jun had no intention of stopping.
He planned to run tirelessly until he reached the EX-grade.
He could definitively reach the unknown EX-grade, passing the S-grade, which was the realm of transcendence.
There was no reason to stop growing halfway.
-I shall bestow a blessing upon you.
This is all I can do for you right now.
However, if you grow steadily, I will be able to do much more for you the next time we meet.
As she finished speaking, a bright light enveloped Seong-jun’s entire body.
Swoooooosh!
“Whoa! Th-This light is…”
Seong-jun looked at the light wrapped around his body in wonder.
A moment later, the bright light was absorbed into his body as if being sucked inside.
[The blessing of Hemeias, the Goddess of Light, has been bestowed.]
[The new title [Blessing of the Goddess] has been unlocked.]
[The Blessing of the Goddess resonates with Holy Heart. The efficiency of Holy Heart increases significantly.]
[The Blessing of the Goddess resonates with Holy Magic. The efficiency of all Holy Magic increases significantly.]
[The Blessing of the Goddess affects the titles [Successor of Hermia Jeryn] and [The Proper Attitude of a Priest]. The efficiency of these titles increases significantly.]
Upon receiving the blessing, the new title, Blessing of the Goddess, was created, and that blessing resonated with his titles and skills, creating incredible synergy.
‘Ha! What is this… Just one blessing has caused an enormous increase in every area. At this rate, it’s not just A-grade; it’s almost at the level of S-grade ability.’
Thanks to the Blessing of the Goddess, his Divine Power had increased greatly, but what was even more amazing was that each of his skills had grown to a level nearly equal to an S-grade healer.
Goddess Hemeias spoke again to the highly excited Seong-jun.
-Time is running out now.
I hope to see you even more grown the next time we meet.
It seemed time was indeed ending.
Seong-jun shouted in an urgent voice.
“W-Wait a minute! I have a lot of things I’m curious about too!”
She was a goddess, after all, so she must know a lot.
Seong-jun had many questions, but unfortunately, there was no time to satisfy his curiosity.
Wooooooooong!
A portal opened rapidly behind Seong-jun, and he began to be sucked into it just like when he first arrived.
-Unfortunately, time is up.
Grow.
The more you grow, the longer the time you can face me will become.
I shall look forward to our next meeting.
In the end, Seong-jun was sucked straight into the portal.
Flash!
When Seong-jun returned to reality through the portal and opened his eyes, he was lying on his bed.
“Ha! What on earth is happening? A goddess out of nowhere? Anyway, the Blessing of the Goddess, huh.”
He had been suddenly invited by a goddess, summoned to a world in a completely different dimension, received something called the Blessing of the Goddess, and returned to his original world.
Everything happened so fast, as if in the blink of an eye, that his head was spinning.
Still, he had to check what he needed to check, so Seong-jun immediately looked at the new title, Blessing of the Goddess.
[Title] [B-grade] Blessing of the Goddess [1/5]
A blessing from Hemeias, the Goddess of Light, given only to the chosen.
-Resonates with all titles and Holy Magic acquired through Hermia Jeryn’s essence, significantly increasing efficiency.
-Increases experience gained through Dark attribute monsters by 2x.
-Increases skill experience by 1.5x when using buffs in Dark attribute dungeons.
-Increases title experience gained through selfless good deeds by 2x.
-Additional Divine Power +100,000.
-Significantly increases Holy Magic efficiency relative to Divine Power.
The Blessing of the Goddess had a massive impact in many ways.
It significantly increased the efficiency of his titles and Holy Magic, and there was a huge boost in experience gain as well.
Furthermore, 100,000 Divine Power was added, and most importantly, the Divine Power stat would now affect all Holy Magic.
This meant that the higher his Divine Power, the more healing he provided, the stronger his buffs became, and the more powerful his attack magic grew.
“Ha! With one blessing, the additional Divine Power that was 300,000 has become 600,000. This is incredible. At this rate, it would be fine to graduate from E-grade and go to D-grade dungeons.”
The additional Divine Power provided through the B-grade Holy Heart was 300,000, but it had doubled due to this blessing.
With another 200,000 added from the Holy Heart, it became 500,000, and the Blessing of the Goddess’s own additional 100,000 Divine Power brought it to a total of 600,000.
The important thing here was that as 300,000 Divine Power was added, the efficiency of all Holy Magic also increased.
Since this would clearly make E-grade dungeon hunting much easier, he thought he could move on to D-grade if necessary.
***
A day passed, and Seong-jun’s party entered the dungeon again.
Perhaps thanks to the Blessing of the Goddess, the hunt had become noticeably easier.
“Whoa! What is this? Seong-jun, your buffs have become so powerful they can’t even be compared to yesterday. What happened in just one day?”
“Seriously. Even yesterday, those guys only died after three or four normal hits, but now they’re dropping after one or two.”
Gwang-taek and Yu-seon, who felt Seong-jun’s changed buffs with their whole bodies, looked at him with surprised expressions.
Seong-jun spoke with a calm face.
“Situations like this will happen often in the future. As I said before, I’m not an ordinary healer.”
In the future, every time his level went up, his grade would rise, and naturally, there would be significant upgrades in all areas.
That was why he gave them a heads-up that this would happen occasionally.
“Anyway, if it’s like this, the day we graduate from E-grade dungeons isn’t far off.”
Gwang-taek nodded at Yu-seon’s words.
“Probably. If we can take down E-grade monsters in one hit without using skills regardless of their attribute, there’s no need to stay in E-grade dungeons. However, the difference between E-grade and D-grade is different from the difference between F-grade and E-grade. If that time comes, it would be better to recruit at least one more dealer.”
Gwang-taek’s thought was that if the situation came where they had to graduate from E-grade and move to D-grade dungeons, they would need to add one more dealer.
Even with Seong-jun’s buffs, as the grade increased, the gap with lower-level dungeons became more severe, so it would be too much for just the three of them to handle.
Most importantly, even if Gwang-taek was a B-grade tanker, if he said he would enter a D-grade dungeon with only an F-grade ranged dealer and an F-grade buffer, there was a high probability it wouldn’t be accepted.
Therefore, he judged that additional personnel had to be recruited to raise the dungeon grade further.
“Huh? Then our settlement money will decrease.”
It was natural that the settlement amount would decrease as one person was added.
When Yu-seon complained, Gwang-taek gave a smirk and said, “Even so, we’ll probably take home more than the three of us running E-grade dungeons. Plus, we’ll be able to hunt more safely.”
If the average profit from an E-grade dungeon was around 50 million won, the average profit from a D-grade dungeon exceeded 100 million won.
On top of that, if a dealer was added along with Seong-jun’s buffs, fast hunting would be possible, and it would clearly far exceed the general average profit.
In other words, even if one person was added, they would end up taking home more settlement money than the three of them running E-grade dungeons.
“Since I don’t plan on moving to D-grade dungeons right away anyway, let’s think about that slowly. By the way, from now on, even if we have to leave Seoul, I’m thinking of focusing on Dark attribute dungeons. What does everyone think?”
Seong-jun decided it was better to find and conquer Dark attribute dungeons rather than having to use Dark Attribute Imbue on every monster he met.
It would raise both his class experience and skill experience, so why hesitate?
If they weren’t in Seoul, they just had to go to other regions.
At Seong-jun’s words, Gwang-taek and Yu-seon asked curiously.
“Huh? Why go that far? Isn’t it enough just to run normal attribute dungeons?”
“Exactly. Is there a need to go all the way to the countryside to conquer Dark attribute dungeons?”
Since they didn’t know about Seong-jun’s title options, it was a natural question.
In response, Seong-jun disclosed limited information.
“I got a new ability this time, and it says that class and skill level growth is faster when hunting in Dark attribute dungeons. That’s why.”
When using a buff in a Dark attribute dungeon, the skill experience gain increased by 1.5x, and when hunting Dark attribute monsters, the class experience gain doubled. How could he give up these sweet growth options?
“Oh? Really? Ha! Is it because you’re a healer? You have all sorts of abilities.”
“Well, if it helps Seong-jun oppa grow, of course we should do that. As long as it’s not like some remote mountain valley, it’s usually only an hour or two away.”
As mana crystals were used in all aspects of life, there had been major changes in public transportation.
Especially in the case of high-speed trains, what used to take about three hours from Seoul to Busan had been significantly reduced to just about one hour.
Therefore, unless it was an island or a remote mountain area, anywhere in the country was within a one-day living zone.
“For now, I’ll look around Seoul and the surrounding areas, but if there are none, we might have to go to provincial cities, so just keep that in mind. Anyway, let’s resume the hunt soon. Ah! And we have to go get the villain bounty after the hunt, so let’s wrap up a bit early today.”
If they finished hunting at 6 o’clock and did the settlement and everything, it was clear that it would take more than 30 minutes.
Therefore, Seong-jun decided to finish the hunt early.
***
Even though they finished the hunt about 30 minutes early, Seong-jun’s party made much more profit than usual.
After quickly finishing the settlement, Seong-jun’s party headed to the meeting place where they were supposed to meet Jang Seok-ho.
“How much do you think the bounty will be? If we just count 10 million per head, that’s 80 million. Some of them will probably be 20 million, so it should be over 100 million, right?”
Although three of the villains had died, the villain bounty was very much like a reward concept, so it was paid regardless of whether they were alive or dead.
“Isn’t this just unearned income? I hope villains pop out once in a while while we’re hunting. Frankly, there won’t be any villains in E-grade dungeons that could threaten us, right? Especially since Seong-jun’s buffs have been strengthened so much, we’re invincible now. Invincible. Haha.”
What they felt through the battle with the villains last time was that even if they had responded on their own without the hunters from Path of Glory, they could have sufficiently suppressed them.
But since Seong-jun’s buffs had been significantly strengthened, they judged they could catch villains much more easily than before.
Perhaps that was why Gwang-taek hoped villains would come out once in a while and give them some unearned income.
At those words, Seong-jun gave a smirk and said, “Words have power. What if a real villain appears? The best thing is to hunt stably without any variables.”
What Seong-jun valued most was safety.
Of course, the moment one entered a dungeon as a hunter, there was no knowing when or where danger would strike, but his priority was to eliminate variables as much as possible and hunt stably.
“Is that so? Well, since when were we like this? Our hearts have grown big since the three of us have been sweeping through dungeons. Haha, yeah, Seong-jun, you’re right. It’s better to live long and thin than short and thick. Safety first! Hahaha!”
As they talked about this and that, they soon reached the meeting place.
“It’s here.”
Tinkle!
When they arrived at the meeting place and opened the door, they saw Jang Seok-ho already waiting there.
“Ah! Seong-jun! Over here!”
Seong-jun’s party approached him.
“You’re already here even though there are still 10 minutes left until the appointment. Have you been waiting long?”
When Seong-jun asked as he sat down, Jang Seok-ho waved his hand and said, “No. I just got here too.”
“You could have just deposited it into our account.”
“My heart wasn’t at ease. Thank you once again. If you guys hadn’t helped us in time, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
Jang Seok-ho stood up and bowed his head toward Seong-jun’s party.
“You don’t have to do this. We received enough thanks back then, and just the fact that you’re giving us the full villain bounty is enough.”
At Seong-jun’s words, Jang Seok-ho sat down again and brought up the story about the bounty.
“Ah! About the bounty. Out of the eight, five were 20 million, and three were 10 million. A total of 130 million came out. A little bit went out for taxes, but the guild paid that on our behalf. So, I will deposit the full 130 million for you.”
Taxes were also applied to the bounty received for catching villains.
And it was said that the Path of Glory guild paid those taxes instead.
“You didn’t have to go that far. Anyway, thank you. I sent you the account number by text, so you can deposit it there.”
When Seong-jun said he sent the account number by text, Jang Seok-ho checked it immediately and deposited the full bounty using mobile banking.
“Ah, yes. I just deposited it. Please check.”
Even without checking separately, a deposit text came up in the notification window, so Seong-jun checked it and said, “It’s confirmed. Anyway, how is the person who was injured?”
When asked about the dealer who was incapacitated, Jang Seok-ho said with a smiling face, “Thanks to Seong-jun’s quick action, he’s recovering without any major problems. His bones were damaged a bit, but they say he’ll be able to return to normal activities if he rests and rehabilitates for about a month or two.”
“That’s a relief.”
When entering dungeons, there were cases where people lost their lives or had a limb cut off and had to live as a cripple for the rest of their lives.
Especially when meeting villains, there were many cases where multiple deaths occurred nine times out of ten, but since not a single person died in Jang Seok-ho’s party, this alone could be called a great stroke of luck.
While having various conversations, Jang Seok-ho said with a serious expression.
“That’s that, and I personally wanted to show you my sincerity, but when the guild found out about it, they said it would be better to compensate you at the guild level instead. In addition, our Guild Leader wanted to meet you in person to express his gratitude, so he came here with me.”
At Jang Seok-ho’s unexpected words, Gwang-taek and Yu-seon had surprised expressions.
Of course, Seong-jun was surprised as well.
“What? The Guild Leader of the Path of Glory guild himself?”
As soon as Jang Seok-ho finished speaking.
Step!
The man who was sitting at the next table stood up and approached the table where Seong-jun’s party was.
“Nice to meet you. I am Yu Se-hyeon of the Path of Glory guild. Thank you for helping our guild members.”
Yu Se-hyeon, who greeted them like that, naturally joined the table.
In response, Seong-jun looked at Yu Se-hyeon and said, “Not at all. Since we thought it would be hard for us to hunt properly if we just left those guys alone, we helped out as well. But I didn’t know the Guild Leader himself would move for something like this.”
It was certainly an important matter that all the guild members who almost died at the hands of villains returned safely.
But even so, it wasn’t a matter important enough for the Guild Leader himself to move.
Therefore, Seong-jun couldn’t understand why Guild Leader Yu Se-hyeon came out here in person.
“I know the lives of our guild members are not of a nature that can be converted into money, but right now, all we can do for you is material. So, I will compensate each of the three of you with 200 million won.”
Yu Se-hyeon said he would pay 200 million won each to Seong-jun’s party, for a total of 600 million won in compensation.
Although 600 million won couldn’t be called a very large sum of money at the level of the top 10 guilds in the country, it was still very unusual.