Chapter 44: The Hammer of Vitality

“Hammer of Fury!”

As the ghouls closed in, Kang Ju-ho cast Hammer of Fury and swung it at the first approaching ghoul.

Swaaak!

The moment the hammer struck, a shockwave burst out, and the ghoul’s body spewed poison.

[You have been poisoned for 3 minutes.]

[Attack speed reduced by 20%.]

Kang Ju-ho, now poisoned, checked his HP.

“My poison resistance is over 30%, and I still lost 200 HP?”

He had increased his resistance by 2% from a previous dungeon, 15% from the Hydra tattoo, 10% from the Poison-Steel Helmet, and 7% from Kim Seok-ju’s buff—for a total of 34%.

And yet he was still losing 200 HP per tick.

“If this stacks with zombie poison…”

Zombie and ghoul poisons were different and stackable.

And the damage was nearly equal.

Which meant—he was taking 400 damage per second, totaling 24,000 HP per minute.

Even with Kim Seok-ju’s immense buffs boosting his HP, he couldn’t last 4 minutes like this.

“Looks like I’ll need frequent breaks…”

He already knew constant hunting wasn’t sustainable, but he hadn’t expected to need breaks this soon.

Pushing the thought aside, Kang Ju-ho focused back on combat.

Swaaak! Swaaak!

With the third shockwave, nearby ghouls began collapsing.

Of course, ghouls hit directly didn’t go down as easily.

“So the shockwave’s too strong, it’s actually a problem…”

Currently, his Hammer of Fury was at mastery level 5.

The shockwave dealt 130% damage—meaning indirect hits were stronger than direct hits.

“I’ll pull it along.”

One more strike would finish the ghoul, but he didn’t want to waste his hammer on it.

So, Kang Ju-ho bypassed the ghoul and charged toward the staggering zombies.

Ghouls followed and attacked, but compared to the poison damage, their hits were negligible.

“This is manageable…”

Once he closed in on the zombies, he turned and swung his hammer at the ghoul.

Swaaak!

As expected, the ghoul fell, triggering another shockwave.

He then charged the zombies again.

“Good, good!”

Every time the hammer hit, the passive skill Relentless activated, reducing the cooldown of Hammer of Fury.

“Hammer of Fury!”

In less than 40 seconds, he could cast it again—clearing all zombies within range.

[Level up!]

Zombies collapsed en masse, and a level-up message appeared.

“This is basically AoE farming.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t traditional mob herding, but it was close enough—he was raking in monsters and EXP like crazy.

And so, he ran toward the next hunting area.

There were still plenty of zombies and ghouls around.

***

“How many levels has he gained already…?”

Yoo Jang-hyuk murmured in shock and disbelief.

“Seriously, I’m speechless.”

He was currently monitoring Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju.

“They’re over 50 levels behind, but their hunting speed is…”

The monsters—zombies and ghouls—were between level 200 and 220.

Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju were 50 to 70 levels lower than them.

Yet, they were farming them effortlessly.

Despite having just started, they’d already leveled up multiple times.

In any other hunting ground, this speed would be unthinkable.

“That Staff of Peace is so OP…”

Their job synergy was excellent, but this absurd hunting speed wasn’t just because of that.

The real MVP? The Staff of Peace .

Without it, they wouldn’t even be able to be in this cemetery.

“Once he can equip One Stone Two Birds… he’ll get even faster.”

Kang Ju-ho hadn’t reached level 200 yet, so he couldn’t equip the Two Birds, One Stone ring.

Once he did?

He’d be even faster than now.

“At this pace, he’ll catch up to HuntingRing soon.”

Currently, the top-ranked player was HuntingRing at level 185.

Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju were at level 155.

A 30-level gap.

But with this speed? He’d surpass him in a few days.

“I wonder how high they’ll be when the next update hits…”

Soon, the Auction House and Main Episode updates were coming.

Yoo Jang-hyuk was excited—how high could they climb?

“Could they lead the main story?”

The first major episode began in the Paraville Kingdom.

Other country players could participate, but without warp gates or scrolls, travel took too long.

Paraville Kingdom players had first dibs.

And the top-level Paraville players?

Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju.

The higher the level, the easier to lead the story.

Could they lead it?

***

[Level up!]

[You can now learn the skill ‘Hammer of Vitality.’]

Another zombie fell, and a system message popped up.

Kang Ju-ho stopped in his tracks.

A new skill?

A new skill had finally appeared since Hammer of Death.

He grinned wide and swung his hammer at more zombies and ghouls.

He wanted to finish this fight fast and check it out.

‘Active or passive…?’

Hammer of Fury was active. Hammer of Death was passive.

He couldn’t tell from the name alone.

Soon, all nearby monsters were down.

“Seok-ju, give me a sec.”

He called out to Kim Seok-ju and opened his inventory.

After drinking antidote and healing potions, he opened the skill window.

[Passive]

[Mastery: 1 (0%)

1. 10% chance to recover 1% HP on basic attacks.
2. Restore 1% HP when defeating a monster.

He was slightly disappointed.

He had hoped for an active skill, but it was passive.

But then he realized—

“Wait… 1% recovery per kill?”

He checked his HP.

Currently, thanks to Kim Seok-ju’s buffs, he had over 90,000 HP.

“Whoa… that’s actually amazing.”

With Hammer of Fury , he usually killed 7–10 enemies per cast.

Which meant major HP restoration.

He immediately clicked Learn.

[Quest ‘Hammer of Vitality’ created.]

He opened the quest window.

<Skill – Hammer of Vitality>
Fulfill the condition below:
Gold:15,702/5,000Gold: 15,702 / 5,000
Reward: Skill – Hammer of Vitality

“5,000 gold?”

He could complete it immediately, though the cost was high.

“Well, Hammer of Death cost 1,000…”

He had gotten that at level 87.

Hammer of Vitality was at level 157. 5,000 gold was fair.

He completed it instantly.

[Skill Quest ‘Hammer of Vitality’ completed.]

[You have learned ‘Hammer of Vitality.’]

Kim Seok-ju approached.

“Ah, sorry—new skill popped up.”

“Whoa, finally?”

Ju-ho shared the skill info.

“Nice. 1% recovery per kill? That’s huge.”

Seok-ju was impressed.

Especially since the recovery wasn’t probabilistic—it was guaranteed.

Perfect for endless farming like this.

“Imagine if the recovery rate increases…”

He trailed off.

At 1% from mastery level 1… the potential was thrilling.

Kang Ju-ho shivered with excitement.

“Let’s go.”

He wanted to test it right now.

“Hammer of Fury!”

He cast it again, watching his HP closely.

Swaaak!

[You have been poisoned for 3 minutes.]

[Attack speed reduced by 20%.]

The hammer struck, poison burst out, and his HP ticked down.

But as he swung and the ghouls fell—

His HP ticked back up.

Kang Ju-ho smiled wide.

It wasn’t an active skill, which had disappointed him at first.

But the recovery made up for everything.

“I don’t need to carry as many potions anymore.”

The healing from Hammer of Vitality was impressive.

He could carry more food or save room for loot.

Kang Ju-ho raised his shield.

Dullahan’s sword came crashing down.

He blocked it, then swung his hammer in return.

Thwack!

[Critical Hit!]

The hammer struck Dullahan’s side—a critical!

“Aaaargh….”

Ssshhh—

Dullahan’s head, hanging from his waist, sighed and crumbled into dust.

“Hyung! I leveled up!”

Kim Seok-ju shouted as Dullahan fell.

“Nice!”

Both had reached level 180.

Time to move on to the next hunting area.

“Let’s kill three more and wrap up.”

They still had quest mobs to finish before moving.

Kang Ju-ho headed toward the next Dullahan.

“Mortal being…”

The undead noticed him and approached.

Combat began swiftly.

As he fought, he thought:

‘I’ll hit level 200 tomorrow. Then I can finally wear Two Birds, One Stone…

He planned to grind goblins and trolls in Rover Plains until 200.

At level 200, he’d be able to equip the long-awaited ring.

But that wasn’t all.

He’d also be able to create a guild and choose a sub-class.

“Aaaargh…”

He felled another Dullahan, then moved toward the next, still deep in thought.

“Should I move to Falkos right away?”

Although he’d started in Paraville Kingdom, Kang Ju-ho planned to move to Falkos, the mercenary nation.

But the question was when.

“Nah. I’ll wait till the auction house opens.”

He couldn’t move yet.

To properly establish a base in Falkos, he needed a Guild House.

And buildings cost gold—anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions.

And Kang Ju-ho didn’t have that kind of money yet.

Also, a low-level Guild Master couldn’t buy high-tier buildings anyway.

So he made a decision—

Focus on leveling first.