Chapter 35: Level 10 Unleashed Part 2

[You have selected Spirit Evolution! There is one eligible target. Applying Level 10 Trait Effect to Mulkiber!]

“Piiiii…?”

Ber, who had been nestled quietly in Roy’s arms, tilted his head.

‘Something felt… off.’

Roy stared down at Ber.

Not only had the color of the feather atop his head deepened, but his fur overall had become a more vivid red.

“If you looked closely, it seemed he had also grown slightly larger.”

Just barely enough to notice if you weren’t paying attention.

“He’s even communicating now.”

Ber chirped in Roy’s hands as he studied him closely.

Unlike before, Roy could now understand the little spirit’s cries.

“Piiiii!” (Contractor! Can you finally hear me now?)

“Yeah. Loud and clear.”

Ber’s cry rang in Roy’s ears like a baby bird’s chirp, but in his head, he heard a deep, mature male voice.

It was just like how they had communicated on the continent of As.

“Piiiii…” (Ugh, I thought I was going to die from frustration.)

“Same here.”

No one else could hear what Ber was saying.

From Lee Chulhun’s perspective, Roy just looked like he was chatting with his spirit companion in the middle of a fight.

“Uh… I don’t think this is the time for a break…”

Ber’s eyes narrowed sharply.

True to his identity as the Fire Spirit King, his voice was deep, but his personality was fiery.

Roy gently stroked his head to calm him down, then explained to Lee Chulhun in a composed tone.

“A message popped up when I hit level 10, saying I could activate a trait. I must’ve spaced out a little while thinking about it.”

“You already reached level 10?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Chulhun’s eyes widened.

He couldn’t hide the jealousy simmering in his gaze, and Roy responded with a humble smile.

Lee Chulhun had pushed a Black Bat toward Roy, intending to trip him up.

But in the end, he had unintentionally helped Roy level up instead.

He had hoped to be the first in the team to reach level 10.

Even when he’d been sticking close to Kangchul, he always made sure to land the finishing blow after Kangchul had worn monsters down, just so he could level up faster.

“I’ll take care of that Black Bat!”

Panic crept in.

Lee Chulhun charged at the remaining Black Bat.

The creature, wary of the unexpectedly strong humans, was hesitating.

But as soon as it noticed Lee Chulhun, it flapped its wings and lunged toward him.

Lee Chulhun deflected the claws with his weapon and stabbed at its torso.

But since his weapon wasn’t very high-level, all he managed to do was leave a shallow scratch.

“Argh!”

Just then, the Black Bat’s claw caught in his hair.

He ducked instinctively, but it wasn’t enough to avoid it entirely.

“Ber, go help him out.”

“Piiiii.”

Ber, who had been grooming himself on Roy’s shoulder, clearly couldn’t care less about whether Lee Chulhun lived or died.

But since his contractor had asked, Ber let out a sigh and reluctantly took flight.

“Piiiii!” (I’ll just make him bald while I’m at it.)

“AAAGH! What is this thing?!”

Roy pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

Ber was attacking the Black Bat to save Lee Chulhun.

Technically.

Thanks to the trait Roy had activated upon reaching level 10, Ber had grown significantly stronger.

A burst of flame, several times larger than his small beak, erupted into the sky.

The dark night lit up with dazzling firelight.

Unfortunately, that fire didn’t just hit the Black Bat’s feet—it also scorched Lee Chulhun’s hair.

“You psycho bird! Get away from me! Stop breathing fire!”

“…Yikes.”

Roy looked up at Lee Chulhun with a genuinely sympathetic expression.

Ber’s delighted laughter echoed inside Roy’s head.

Once Ber got into a mischievous mood, even Roy couldn’t stop him.

The Black Bat let out a hideous screech as its feet caught fire.

“Kiiiiiiiiieeeek!”

“AAAGH! What are you all doing?! Help me! I’m gonna die!”

The Black Bat was relentless.

Even under Ber’s assault, it didn’t release Lee Chulhun’s hair.

Instead, it soared even higher into the sky with him in tow.

“Roy hyung, are you okay?”

***

Hearing the screams, Hajun ran over with Kangchul in tow.

Kangchul’s expression was grim as he stared intently at Lee Chulhun.

Hajun, relieved that Roy seemed unharmed, sighed in relief and then looked up at the chaos above them.

“If I had a bow and some arrows, I could shoot it down right now…”

Even someone as soft-hearted as Hajun was pacing nervously, seeing Lee Chulhun in such danger.

His class was an archer, but no archer-related weapons had appeared yet.

“Well, I guess I’ll throw something for now.”

Roy walked over to a pile of rocks he had gathered earlier.

He wasn’t aiming with a bow, but he was surprisingly good at throwing things.

Whiiish. Thunk.

“Kiiieek!”

“AAAH! You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?!”

Thanks to leveling up to 10, Roy’s strength and physical power had increased significantly.

Even though the Black Bat was flying high, he nailed it square in the chest.

What Roy hadn’t accounted for was that the rock bounced off and hit Lee Chulhun’s face as it fell.

Lee Chulhun grabbed his bleeding nose with both hands.

Of all places, it hit him right on the nose—not enough to break it, but definitely painful.

His scalp felt like it was going to be ripped off, his nose ached, and the fear of dying if the bat dropped him overwhelmed his senses.

Oh, and his burning hair didn’t help.

“AAAAAAAAH! Production team! Help me! I’m gonna die out here!”

Roy glanced toward the camera crew.

They had been told to act like the cameras didn’t exist, and sometimes, Roy genuinely forgot they were even there.

The production crew captured every bit of Lee Chulhun’s wild outburst on camera.

‘Is it really okay to air that footage?’

Even if Roy didn’t lift a finger, just showing Chulhun’s current behavior on the broadcast might be enough to get him eliminated early.

“Chulhun! Just hang in there a little longer!”

While everyone else froze in place, the first one to take action was Kangchul.

He started climbing a tree.

Hajun, looking flustered, tried to follow suit and grabbed a nearby tree.

But before he could climb, Roy approached and gently tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hajun.”

“Yes?”

“Can you put your hands together like this?”

“Like this?”

“Yeah.”

Roy considered climbing the tree himself, but there was a more effective method.

Once Hajun held out his palms facing up, Roy rolled forward on the ground.

His body felt so light, like he could fly.

“Hyung, your jumping power really got stronger!”

“Yeah, it gets like this when your level increases. I’ll run at you and use your hands to boost myself up, so if it’s scary, just close your eyes, okay?”

“I’m fine, really!”

Roy backed up a few steps, then sprinted straight toward Hajun.

Leaping up, he stepped on Hajun’s hands and launched himself into the air.

“KIIIIIEEE!”

WHAM.

Roy struck the Black bat’s head with the hammer he was holding.

The added force of gravity from his fall made the impact thunderous.

“Roy hyung!”

As Roy rocketed back down toward the ground, Hajun’s face turned pale.

“Ber!”

“Bii!” (Trust me!)

[Nice timing!]

Just in time, Ber swooped in midair and gently nudged Roy’s back.

Instead of hitting the ground, Roy landed atop a tree.

“Urgh…”

He grabbed hold of a thick branch to steady himself, but it couldn’t support his weight for long and snapped.

As Roy fell again, he twisted midair and kicked off the tree trunk, clinging tightly to it.

Their eyes met—Kangchul was already climbing toward the treetop.

Stinging pain flared across Roy’s scraped palms and face, but he didn’t have time to check his injuries.

He turned toward Lee Chulhun.

The Black bat had taken a solid hit.

At level 10, Roy was evenly matched with it.

The attack definitely landed, but the creature was still staggering midair, refusing to let go of Chulhun’s hair.

“Kiiiieee…”

“H-Huh…?”

The Black bat, with Chulhun still in its grip, veered away from the tree Roy clung to.

“Chulhun!”

Kangchul reached out with a desperate cry, but Chulhun was already out of range.

“This just got annoying.”

Jumping into the air and landing a hit had gone well.

The Black bat’s head was visibly dented—but maybe he should’ve aimed for the wings instead.

Now disoriented, the creature wasn’t descending—it was flying erratically in every direction.

“Hwang Roy! You did that on purpose!”

Chulhun screamed with rage.

A good chunk of his hair had been torn out, scattering through the air.

He was already struggling with hair loss and had started visiting a specialized clinic.

Healing potions didn’t work on baldness—genetics were the real culprit.

Every single strand was precious, and now they were falling out in clumps.

Tears welled in his eyes.

And to make things worse, Roy’s spirit had burned off the front of his hair.

Chulhun couldn’t help gnashing his teeth at Roy.

He was starting to suspect Roy had let him suffer on purpose.

‘I honestly wouldn’t mind just leaving him like that.’

Whether Chulhun went completely bald or not wasn’t Roy’s concern—but they were on the same team.

And Chulhun had already gone through enough.

Roy figured it was finally time to step in and help.

He carefully studied the terrain and tracked the Black bat’s movement.

At a glance, the creature seemed to be flying randomly, but Roy noticed it periodically drifted close to his tree.

“Just hang on a little longer!”

Roy shouted toward Chulhun, then turned to Kangchul.

“You saw what Hajun and I did earlier, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you hold your hands out the same way? I don’t trust these branches—if I step on one wrong, it’ll snap.”

“Got it.”

Kangchul immediately understood.

Wrapping his legs around the tree to secure himself, he reached out his hands to Roy.

“Ready when you are.”

[Hero, be careful!]

“Biiiii!” (Contractor! Just trust me already!)