Chapter 26: The Passive That Changes Everything

On the fifth swing of the hammer, one lioness fell.

And the other, having been struck three times by the Hammer of Fury’s shockwave, died after two more hits.

Only one male lion remained.

Just then, it let out a thunderous roar.

– ROOOAAAARRR!

[All lionesses have died. The male lion is enraged.]

[All stats of the male lion have increased by 40%.]

A system message appeared.

But Kang Juho didn’t have time to read it.

The male lion charged at him at incredible speed.

Kang Juho reflexively raised his shield the moment the lion leapt.

Crash!

The lion’s front paw slammed into his shield.

“Not joking around, huh…”

Checking his health, Kang Juho could feel the full force of the lion’s fury.

That one hit had taken a whopping 300 HP.

Bang! Bang!

And it wasn’t just its attack power that had increased—its attack speed had too.

Blow after blow rained down on his shield, shaving off 300 HP at a time.

Whoosh! Thud!

He couldn’t just sit there taking hits.

Kang Juho swung his hammer.

It landed, knocking the lion back slightly.

And in that moment, he shouted—

“Seokju! Shackles!”

“Elemental Shackles!”

At his call, Kim Seokju immediately cast the spell.

Chains of fire shot out, binding the lion’s body.

BOOM! Sizzle—!!

– ROOAAAR!!

Kang Juho swung his hammer again, detonating the shackles.

The damage must’ve been significant—the lion staggered.

Kang Juho didn’t let up, striking again and again.

Eventually—

Thud!

The male lion collapsed.

“It definitely took longer than the ghouls,” Seokju commented, walking over.

Kang Juho drank a potion and replied,

“Yeah. The lionesses go down in just one or two hits…”

He trailed off, recalling the male lion’s enraged state.

“I think next time, we should take out the male lion first.”

Once enraged, its attack power, speed, movement speed, defense, and HP had all increased drastically, making the fight much harder and longer.

If they wanted smoother battles, they’d need to kill the male first.

After looting the dropped items, Kang Juho moved on.

A little while later, he stopped and looked around.

“Should we log out here?” he asked Seokju.

Only docile red bisons could be seen nearby—it was their territory.

Though it wasn’t guaranteed that lions or wolves wouldn’t appear, their chances were much lower here.

A safe logout zone.

“When will you be back online tomorrow?”

“How about 8 AM?”

“Sounds good! I’ll contact you then.”

“Alright!”

Log out – click!

Seokju logged out first.

After confirming he was safe, Kang Juho logged out as well.

Out of the capsule, he set an alarm and headed to his computer.

He wanted to check the official forums for any new developments or valuable information before bed.

***

Meanwhile…

Jang Seokho frowned at his phone.

“Why isn’t he answering…?”

There had been no reply from Kim Jun.

“He definitely saw it.”

So why wasn’t he responding?

Was he hesitating about taking the job?

“We need to move soon…”

Since the launch of Earth, the player base of Murim had dropped sharply.

And it hadn’t recovered.

In fact, it was still declining.

If it kept falling…

Shudder

Jang Seokho trembled at the thought.

Just then—

Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~

His phone chimed.

Two messages.

From Kim Jun.

He opened them immediately.

“Hello, sorry for the late reply. Earth isn’t just any game, so I needed some time to prepare…”

Jang Seokho nodded.

Even he had to admit it—Earth was an incredible game.

So much so that even the genius gamer Kim Jun couldn’t rush into it.

The second message read:

“Let’s talk after I’ve leveled up a bit. Lunch in 3 weeks. Let’s meet at that place.”

He hadn’t rejected the meeting.

Which meant the job was still on the table.

Grinning, Seokho marked the date on his calendar.

No appointments. Perfect.

He replied:

“Alright, see you then.”

***

Two minutes later…

Kang Juho climbed back into the capsule.

Upon logging in, he quickly scanned the area.

“Phew!”

No aggressive monsters nearby.

Only the heavy footfalls of a herd of red bisons.

As he waited for Seokju to log in, he began repairing his gear.

And just as he finished the last piece—

Swoosh!

Seokju logged in.

The two immediately resumed their journey toward Boreidos.

Soon, a pride of lions appeared—one male, three females.

Both players halted.

Seokju cast buffs.

Once done, Juho advanced.

He eyed the male lion.

“Please come in early…”

If all the lionesses died first, the male would go berserk again.

But they always attacked first.

Juho smirked.

“I only need to kill two.”

As long as one lioness remained, the male wouldn’t go berserk.

And he could handle one lioness’s attacks.

ROAR! ROAR! ROOOAR!

The lionesses noticed him and charged.

“Hammer of Fury!”

Juho cast it preemptively.

Three Hammer of Fury swings, two basic attacks—

The first lioness died.

Then the second fell.

At that moment, the male lion joined the fight.

Juho ignored the remaining lioness completely, focusing all his attention on the male.

Without the berserk buff, the male lion went down after just seven hammer blows.

Only then did Juho finish off the last lioness.

“That Fury buff really makes a difference,” Seokju said.

The difference between a berserk lion and a normal one was night and day.

“Yeah, seven hits this time,” Juho nodded, shaking his head at the memory.

After healing up, they moved on.

They fought not only more lions but wolves as well—

Then, during a heated battle—

[Level Up!]

[You can now learn the skill “Relentless.”]

Juho’s eyes widened.

“Relentless” wasn’t a blacksmith skill.

After combat, he immediately opened the skill window.

<Relentless [Passive]>

Proficiency: 1 (0%)

Effect: Basic attacks reduce Hammer of Fury cooldown by 1 second.

“…!”

Juho was stunned.

It was a passive cooldown reduction skill—incredibly rare.

And it only required hitting with basic attacks.

With only Hammer of Fury as his offensive skill—essentially a buffed basic attack—this synergy was ideal.

And if proficiency increased, the cooldown reduction might too—

2 seconds, 3 seconds, maybe more…

He could spam Hammer of Fury infinitely.

And it had auto-cast, so he didn’t even have to trigger it manually.

If Hammer of Fury got stronger too—

More hits, larger range, more damage—

The combo would be devastating.

“Crazy… This is insane,” he grinned.

“Hyung?”

“Huh?”

Seokju had called him back to reality.

“Something happen?”

“Yeah, I got a new skill.”

He shared the info.

“Whoa, that’s seriously good.”

“What’s the acquisition condition?”

Juho clicked the learn button.

[Skill Quest: ‘Relentless’ has been generated.]

He opened the quest window.

<Skill – Relentless>

Objective: Collect the following —

[Stones of Passion: 0/20]

Reward: Skill – Relentless

“…Stones of Passion?”

Completely unrelated to blacksmithing.

But not hard to get—sold in shops.

Actually, he didn’t even need to buy them himself.

“Hey Seokju.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have any Stones of Passion?”

Used by enchanters for speed buffs, they were commonly carried by Seokju.