“Is Hammer of Fury infinite now?”
Kim Seokju asked as he approached.
“No, there’s still a slight gap,” Kang Juho replied.
If there hadn’t been any movement time, he wouldn’t have been able to use it again immediately like earlier.
“But if the mastery increases, I think it’ll be usable back-to-back.”
Currently, the mastery of the skill [Relentless] was at 96%.
Once it levels up, the cooldown reduction will improve.
He wasn’t sure how many seconds it would increase by, but if it went up by 2 seconds like usual and reached 11 seconds total?
Each hit would reduce cooldown by 22 seconds, and if all 5 Hammer of Fury charges were used, that’s 110 seconds reduced.
Considering the attack and movement time, it would effectively become an infinite loop.
Right then—
– KUEEEHHHHH!!
A monstrous scream rang out.
Kang Juho and Kim Seokju turned toward the source of the noise.
“That’s not a regular troll, is it?”
“Yeah, sounds like an elite.”
It was clearly a troll’s voice, but not one from an ordinary troll.
If it were a boss monster, a system message would have appeared.
So the remaining options were either an elite or a boss.
“Want to go take it down?”
Kang Juho asked.
Bosses were tough, but elites? He was confident.
And that confidence came not just from Two Birds, One Stone but more from the skill Hammer of Death, which nullified trolls’ terrifying regeneration.
“Yeah, let’s go get it!”
Kim Seokju agreed.
They advanced toward the direction of the scream, and before long, they saw the source.
As expected—it wasn’t a normal troll.
This one was 1.5 times the size of a regular troll, and it wielded an iron club instead of a wooden one.
“Looks like it’s in the middle of a territory battle.”
The elite troll was fighting over 10 goblins.
BANG!
– Kiieeek!
– Kiiiek!!
Each swing of the iron club sent goblins flying.
The difference between an elite and a normal monster was staggering.
Though the goblins outnumbered it, they were being crushed. Soon they began to flee.
– KUEEEEEH!!
The elite troll let out a victorious roar.
“Should I cast Bind now?” Kim Seokju asked.
“Cast it right before I arrive,” Kang Juho instructed.
The troll’s wounds from the goblin fight were healing rapidly.
It was best to attack before it recovered completely.
Kang Juho dashed toward the elite troll.
“Multi-chain!”
Kim Seokju cast the skill just as Kang Juho got close enough, binding the elite troll.
“10 seconds!”
As expected of an elite.
Despite Multi-chain having an extended bind duration due to skill mastery, it only lasted 10 seconds on the elite.
But Kang Juho had already closed the distance.
As soon as he arrived, Kang Juho swung his hammer.
Wham!
The hammer detonated, and the chains exploded.
Kang Juho smiled wide.
Just moments ago, the troll’s wounds were visibly healing.
Now, they weren’t healing at all.
Hammer of Death had triggered on the first hit.
– KUEH!
He kept attacking as the elite troll screamed in agony.
It seemed dazed and was unable to counterattack properly.
Even when it swung its iron club, Kang Juho would slip inside its range and retaliate.
“Yeah, definitely elite.”
The troll had lost HP during the goblin fight and now couldn’t regenerate because of Hammer of Death.
Plus, with Two Birds, One Stone , his damage had skyrocketed.
Yet, despite having struck 12 times, the elite troll still stood.
It wasn’t called elite for nothing.
But it wouldn’t last forever.
Its ragged breathing and sluggish movements were telltale signs it was near defeat.
‘What will the rewards be like?’
Kang Juho dodged the club and countered again.
Thwack! Slam!
– Kuehh…
On the 17th hit, the elite troll finally collapsed. Kang Juho quickly checked the drops.
- 5 Troll’s Blood
- 1 Troll’s Tear
Only two types of items dropped.
While Troll’s Blood was a high-value item, getting five of them wasn’t unusual.
Still, it was a bit disappointing.
“But what’s a Troll’s Tear?”
It was a material he had never seen before.
Kang Juho picked it up and opened his inventory to check its info.
After reading the description, he couldn’t hide his surprise:
[Troll’s Tear] [Special] [Non-tradable]
- Requirement: None
- Durability: None
- Physical Defense: +100
- When HP drops below 20%, recover 30% HP over 10 seconds (Cooldown: 2 hours)
- Slot: Face Accessory
‘A face accessory!’
Surprisingly, Troll’s Tear was an item worn on the face.
Like tattoos, face accessories couldn’t be traded.
But unlike tattoos, which could be bought from NPCs for 400 Gold or obtained via quests, face accessories could only be obtained through quests or drops.
They were rarer than tattoos.
‘Recovery, huh…’
The option wasn’t bad at all.
Recovering 30% HP in a pinch was an excellent emergency skill.
“Nice job!”
Kim Seokju approached as Kang Juho was inspecting the item.
“What did you get?”
He sensed something from Juho’s expression.
“A face accessory!”
“No way, seriously?!”
Kang Juho shared the item’s info.
“Wow…” Kim Seokju was amazed.
“I only got Troll’s Blood. Six of them…”
He replied with a slightly disappointed expression.
Still chatting, the two made their way to Boredos.
“If it takes too long, I’ll contact you.”
“Yup! See you later!”
Once they arrived, Kang Juho and Kim Seokju said goodbye and parted ways.
Kang Juho then headed toward the guild district, looking for a general store.
To create a guild, he needed to be level 200 and have 1,000 Gold.
He only had 58 Gold—nowhere near enough.
He found a general store and sold off all materials except for 10 Troll’s Blood, which was needed to complete a quest.
“As expected, Troll’s Blood is expensive.”
Used in potion crafting and magic research, each unit sold for 300 Gold—far more than any other material.
After selling the rest, he earned 13,000 Gold.
Satisfied, Kang Juho left the store and returned to the guild district.
Soon he arrived at the central plaza, where the guild administration office stood.
“Damn, it’s huge.”
The building had 8 floors.
It wasn’t as big as City Hall in terms of area, but it felt grander.
He admired it briefly before entering.
The 1st and 2nd floors were restaurants, but they were empty—likely because no one had created a guild yet.
He climbed to the 3rd floor where guild creation was possible.
Like the ground floor, it was empty.
He walked straight to the counter.
“How may I help you?”
A staff member named Barresan greeted him.
“I’m here to create a guild.”
Barresan handed him a form and a pen.
“Please fill out this form.”
It was the Guild Creation Application.
There were many blanks, but very little actually needed to be written in.
This was a game world, after all.
Upon receiving the form, many fields were automatically filled in.
The only thing Kang Juho had to write was the guild name.
And he already had one in mind.
“Here you go.”
He wrote “Immortal Corps” and returned the form.
“The fee is 1,000 Gold,”
Barresan said after checking the form.
Juho, already prepared, handed over the gold.
“Congratulations on founding your guild!”
With a beaming smile, Barresan completed the process.
Then, messages popped up:
[You have founded the guild “Immortal Corps.”]
[You have received the Guild Master’s Emblem of “Immortal Corps.”]
[Guild Interface has been activated.]
‘Finally…!’
Juho smiled broadly as he read the messages.
“Thank you.”
He bid Barresan farewell and stood.
On the stairs, he opened the Guild Interface.
Most features were still locked.
Only Guild Info, Member List, and Join Requests were active.
“As expected, we’ll need a Guild House.”
To unlock all features, a Guild House was essential.
At guild level 1, you could only own one Guild House.
With the auction house opening soon, Juho would have the funds.
But he was planning to move to the mercenary kingdom Falkos, and Guild Houses couldn’t be built in Paraville Kingdom.
He checked the guild status:
- Guild Name: Immortal Corps
- Guild Master: Kang Juho
- Guild Level: 1 (0%)
- Members: 1
- Fame: 0
- Contribution
- Parabil Kingdom: 0
After checking the details, he closed the window with a satisfied smile.
Instead of heading down, he went up to the 4th floor.
Why? Guild quests.
Once he had a Guild House, he wouldn’t need to come here anymore—quests could be received and completed from there.
“May I see your emblem?”
Staff member Morv asked.
Kang Juho handed him the Guild Master’s Emblem.
“So you’re the master of Immortal Corps. How can I assist you?”
Morv handed the emblem back and asked.
“I’d like to check the available commissions.”
“Here you go.”
Morv passed him a document, and the Guild Quest window appeared.
They weren’t much different from hunting or delivery quests.
“Here it is!”
Juho smiled as he spotted a quest.
Some regions didn’t have Guild Quests—but thankfully, the one he was heading to did.
“Huh?”
While checking quest details, he tilted his head.
He compared it with other quests and returned to the one titled ‘Orcs of the Debaru Plains.’
“Why is the reward so high?”
Something felt off.
The reward was too good compared to similar quests.
It wasn’t because of difficulty.
It was just another monster-hunting quest, and there were even tougher zones with worse rewards.
[Guild Quest ‘Orcs of the Debaru Plains’ has been accepted.]
He took the quest anyway.
Right then, a message arrived.
– Kim Seokju: Hyung!