Seeing Gwang-taek looking refreshed and polished, Seong-jun spoke with a faint, mocking smile.
“I’ll fill you back up to the max every time you’re hit, so don’t worry and just go!”
“Alright! Let’s go!”
Perhaps it was because he had witnessed his health being fully restored in an instant, but Gwang-taek no longer feared death and rushed fiercely toward the elite monster.
Dash!
And then came the second exchange.
Boom! Thud! Bam! Bam!
Gwang-taek’s sword struck the elite’s entire body, and the elite also countered by swiftly firing bone arrows at him.
In the process, the elite’s health dropped to one-third.
“Yu-seon! Use your skills from now on!”
Since Gwang-taek had been consistently casting skills following his basic attacks, it seemed unlikely that the aggro would shift based on accumulated damage alone.
That was why he told Yu-seon to use her skill attacks.
“Okay! Rapid Fire! Tracking Arrow!”
As soon as Gwang-taek’s order was given, Yu-seon launched a powerful skill attack.
Whiz! Whoosh!
Boom! Crash!
Meanwhile, Seong-jun was consistently providing heals to Gwang-taek.
‘Divine Healing!’
Thanks to the continuous healing skill, Light of Healing, most minor damage was recovered quickly, but there were occasional moments when his health dropped sharply.
Every time that happened, Seong-jun quickly cast a healing skill to maintain full health.
And a moment later.
“Kieeeeeek……”
Eventually, the Skeleton Elite Archer could not hold out any longer and collapsed.
Thump!
Rumble!
Bone fragments scattered in all directions as it fell to the ground.
“We, we did it! We caught it!”
“Oh! This actually worked? Haha, it really worked!”
As the elite monster fell, Gwang-taek and Yu-seon raised their arms high and rejoiced.
An elite monster was something that usually required at least two parties to hunt.
Yet they had hunted it with a party of only three people—not even a proper full party.
Furthermore, while the healer was D-rank, the main damage dealers were only F-rank.
If they told this story anywhere else, no one would believe them.
They had accomplished something that incredible, and the notification Seong-jun had been waiting for finally sounded in his ears.
[You have obtained a large amount of experience points. You have leveled up.]
[By leveling up, you have attained the status suitable for the next rank. Your rank increases by one level.]
[New skills have been created due to the level up and rank increase.]
[Due to the rank increase, the efficiency of existing skills has significantly increased.]
His level rose, his rank rose, and because of that, new skills were created, and the efficiency of his existing skills increased significantly to match his new rank.
‘It’s done! Level up! Does this mean I’m C-rank now?’
Having achieved the rank increase, Seong-jun quickly checked his status window.
Name: Kim Seong-jun
Class: [C-rank] Battle Priest [2/10]
Title: [Successor of Ermia Jaylin]
Strength: 720 / Agility: 855 / Stamina: 1,020
Holy Power: 15,000 + [30,000] / Vitality: 10,200
Skills
Passive: Holy Heart [2/10], Priest Combat Arts [1/10], Blunt Weapon Mastery [1/10]
Active: Dark Element Infusion [1/10], Batter of Enlightenment [1/10], Holy Arrow [1/10], Divine Healing [1/10], Light of Healing [1/10], Fast Heal [1/10], Holy Weapon Enchant [1/10], Holy Armor Enchant [1/10], Wind Walker [2/10], Iron Body [2/10], Elemental Blessing [2/10], Iron Strength [2/10], Iron Constitution [2/10], Cure [1/10]
Checking the status window, Seong-jun’s eyes widened at the numerical values that were significantly different from before.
Other stats had also increased tremendously, but above all, his Holy Power had increased tenfold. Furthermore, the additional Holy Power from Holy Heart had also increased tenfold.
‘Is this the power of rank? If it was just a simple level up, there wouldn’t have been such a dramatic change. This is why people say rank is everything.’
Of course, there were stat increases from the level up, but the reason such an unbelievable transformation was possible was that Seong-jun’s rank had changed from D-rank to C-rank.
Only after confirming this did he realize how great the difference of a single rank was.
‘I heard the difference isn’t that big in the lower ranks, but it’s still a tenfold difference. Then just how big is the gap between ranks at higher levels?’
The gap between ranks wasn’t that large at lower levels, but it grew wider as the rank increased.
Even the difference between D-rank and C-rank was this much; he couldn’t even grasp what kind of ridiculous stats he would possess if he eventually reached S-rank or even EX-rank.
‘I want to check the newly created skills too, but it’s not ideal to do it here. I should clean up first and take my time.’
He wanted to see the new skills created by the level up and rank increase, as well as how the existing skills had evolved and changed, but since it wasn’t the right place to check them immediately, he decided to look at them later.
Checking the status window, Seong-jun then looked at Gwang-taek and Yu-seon and said,
“Let’s clean up the scene before other people arrive.”
At Seong-jun’s words, Gwang-taek and Yu-seon, who had been celebrating, moved hurriedly.
“Oh! Right!”
“By the way, isn’t the settlement for an elite corpse and magic stone different from regular monsters? From what I know, for an F-rank, it’s at least over five million?”
At Yu-seon’s words, Gwang-taek, who was gathering the elite’s bones and magic stones, spoke with a smile.
“It varies slightly depending on the monster. In the case of an elite slime, it’s about five million including the magic stone, but for the elite skeleton we just hunted, it should be around seven million.”
“Oh! Seven million! That’s amazing! Just what we hunted today should be over twenty million, and if we’re lucky, could we hit thirty million?”
Because of Seong-jun’s buffs, they were able to continue hunting at an incredible speed, and most importantly, since there were very few parties hunting, there was almost no competition.
As a result, from 8:30 in the morning until now, nearly 6:00, they were able to hunt a truly massive number of monsters.
While a typical party’s earnings from hunting for 9 to 10 hours would be around 10 million won, their earnings were more than double that.
“Wow! Just how much are we taking home today? Haha, huh? Wa-wait! Is this a drop?”
Drops don’t come from regular monsters, but there is a slim chance for them to drop from elite or boss monsters.
And now, they had obtained a drop from the Skeleton Elite Archer.
“It’s a bow?”
The item that dropped was the very bone bow the elite had been using.
[E-rank] Skeleton Elite Archer’s Bone Bow
-Weapon Attack Power +5,000
-Applies [Knockback] effect to the target upon hit.
-Special skill [Power Shot] can be used.
The bow that dropped was an E-rank artifact.
“Whoa! It’s E-rank! An elite, not even a boss, gave an artifact one rank higher?”
Usually, drops obtained from killing a boss give an artifact one rank higher than the dungeon’s rank.
However, for elite monsters, even if they dropped something, it was common for them to drop loot that matched the dungeon’s rank.
Of course, there were rare cases of obtaining loot one rank higher after hunting an elite, but it could be considered an extremely slim probability.
“What do you think, Yu-seon? Is it usable?” Seong-jun asked Yu-seon, who used a bow as her main weapon.
“Of course! My bow right now is F-rank. The weapon attack power is 1,500, and there are no other options. But this is 5,000, which is more than three times that, plus it has a knockback effect. Above all, being able to use the Power Shot skill is the highlight. It’s very rare for a special skill to be attached to a low-rank artifact. If we were to sell this, we’d probably get at least thirty million won.”
F-rank artifacts were being traded in the hundreds of thousands of won range, and E-rank was in the millions.
However, this was only for typical artifacts; in the case of artifacts with special skills as options, their value rose tremendously.
It meant a multi-million won artifact could become worth tens of millions just because of a single special skill option.
“It’s a real jackpot from the very first hunt. Let’s end the hunt here and withdraw. As for the loot………… we’ll talk about it again after checking the exact value through HunterNet.”
Even though it was the first hunt they had conducted as a party of three, they had earned profits that far exceeded typical party hunts, and they had even hunted an elite and obtained a drop.
Since the clear rate had already surpassed 90 percent anyway, he judged it better to end today’s hunt there.
***
The settlement happened quickly.
The settlement for regular monsters alone was 24 million won, and the elite settlement came out to 7.5 million won.
The total settlement for hunting monsters was 31.5 million won, and after deducting 10 percent for taxes, the actual settlement was 28.35 million won.
In the case of loot, settlements were mostly done based on the artifact price list organized on HunterNet, and for the bone bow they obtained this time, the fixed price was listed as 35 million won, so they paid an additional 3.5 million won in tax.
“This means the total profit exceeded sixty million including the loot. Is this a profit possible in an F-rank dungeon? Ha! There’s no jackpot like this. Hahaha!”
The average profit a typical party could get from running an F-rank dungeon was around 10 million won.
Even if they caught an elite, because two or three parties would unite, it was practically not easy to exceed 20 million.
Of course, if a drop appeared, the story would change, but even then, it rarely exceeded 30 million.
Yet the actual profit Seong-jun’s party made today alone was over 60 million.
It could be said to be a truly ridiculous and enormous profit margin.
Watching the joyous Gwang-taek, Yu-seon spoke up tentatively.
“Um…………”
As Yu-seon hesitated and trailed off.
“What is it, Yu-seon? Do you have something to say? Ah! Is it because of that bow?”
What else could Yu-seon be reacting this way to other than the bone bow they got as loot?
“Yes. If we put that up for auction, it’s certain we’d get more than thirty-five million, but I’d really like to use it if possible. Is there any way? I’ll give up my settlement money for today, and I’ll pay back the remaining amount by hunting.”
If the settlement money was divided, Seong-jun, who decided to take 40 percent, would take 11.34 million won, and Gwang-taek and Yu-seon, who were at the 30 percent ratio, would take 8.5 million won each.
And if the bone bow was sold at the fixed price and distributed, Seong-jun should have received 14 million won, and Gwang-taek and Yu-seon should have received 10.5 million won each.
In other words, for Yu-seon to take the bone bow, she would have to fork over another 16 million won even after giving up today’s settlement money.
Originally, Gwang-taek and Yu-seon said they would take 20 percent each and give Seong-jun 60 percent, but Seong-jun had refused this.
They were people he was going to go with as far as possible anyway, and above all, he could increase their trust through this kind of consideration.
Seong-jun wanted to see what kind of change would occur when trust reached 100, and to that end, he was showing them the maximum amount of consideration.
At Yu-seon’s words, Seong-jun spoke with a smile.
“If you get stronger, our party gets stronger, so of course we should do that. For the record, if we get loot like this while hunting, I’ll give priority to party members first.
Of course, artifacts that no one uses will be put up for auction and distributed. Anyway, I agree. What about you, Gwang-taek?”
When Seong-jun asked for Gwang-taek’s intent.
“I agree as well, of course. Yu-seon says she’ll use it, so would I object over a few measly bucks?”
Gwang-taek also readily agreed.
“Then let’s do that. Haha, I’ll split today’s settlement with Gwang-taek. Instead, you don’t need to give me the rest of the settlement money separately. I’ll think of it as a gift for our first item drop, so just settle Gwang-taek’s share.”
If the remaining money were settled according to the ratio, the amount Seong-jun should have received was a little under 10 million won.
To the current Seong-jun, it was by no means a small amount of money.
Nevertheless, Seong-jun said he didn’t need to take his share of the settlement separately.
‘If I’ve done this much, their trust must have increased further. I’m curious what kind of change will happen when trust hits 100. Well, setting that aside, it’s hard to find people like Yu-seon or Gwang-taek who follow my words absolutely in the current situation, so it’s not bad to make them owe me like this.’
Right now, ten million won seemed like a lot, but as he continued hunting, money would pile up in his bank account, and before long, ten million won wouldn’t feel like such a large sum.
That was why Seong-jun decided to use the current situation where ten million won seemed large to show consideration in his own way while simultaneously increasing Yu-seon’s trust.
“Huh? Seong-jun! You don’t have to go that far…………”
“It’s okay. You getting stronger means the party gets stronger, and if the party gets stronger, we’ll be able to hunt that many more monsters, right? If that happens, our profits will naturally increase too. That’s enough for me.”
At Seong-jun’s words, Gwang-taek let out a sigh and spoke.
“Sigh, if you say it like that, I can’t just stand still, can I? What the heck! I’m in a good mood! Yu-seon. You don’t need to give me my share either. Just like Seong-jun said, we’ll just settle today’s earnings among ourselves, so you just focus on sweeping away monsters with that bow from now on.”
Gwang-taek also declared that he would not take the rest of the settlement money, just like Seong-jun.
“Gwang-taek, you too? This makes me feel so guilty………….”
“Haha! If you feel guilty, you can just hunt that much more so we can get more settlement money.”
Dark-attribute monsters could be taken out with a single basic attack due to Holy Weapon Enchant, but other monsters could not be taken out in one hit yet.
It would be possible if he cast Dark Element Infusion on the monsters, but Seong-jun’s Holy Power wouldn’t last if he cast it every time a monster appeared.
However, if Seong-jun’s buffs were added to the E-rank bow she obtained this time, she might be able to take them out in one shot even if they weren’t dark-attribute monsters, so it was certain that hunting would become even easier.
“Got it! I’ll catch every single one that shows up. Just trust me!”
When Yu-seon gripped the bow tight and told them to trust her, Seong-jun spoke with a smile.
“Wow, Yu-seon is really full of spirit, isn’t she? Then let’s do that and finish the settlement.”
In the end, Seong-jun took 16.44 million won, adding 5.1 million won from Yu-seon’s share, and Gwang-taek took 11.9 million won, adding 3.4 million won from Yu-seon’s share.
And instead of being excluded from the settlement, Yu-seon took the 35 million won E-rank artifact.
Just as the settlement had finished.
“Hey! You sons of bitches!”
Someone approached Seong-jun’s group with a face full of fury.
“Hmm? Oh! It’s Kang Jae-jun. I wondered when he’d show up.”
Watching Kang Jae-jun approaching them, Seong-jun spoke to Yu-seon in a quiet voice with a faint, mocking smile.
“Yu-seon. Film this so the angle comes out well.”
At the sudden comment, Yu-seon made a puzzled expression.
“Huh? What do you mean……”
Before Yu-seon’s question could even finish, Seong-jun approached Kang Jae-jun with a groveling expression.
“Ahahaha, Brother Jae-jun. How did you find us here?”
As Seong-jun approached with a smile and a servile expression, Kang Jae-jun violently grabbed him by the collar.
Grab!
“You son of a bitch! Who do you think you are! What kind of bastard are you!”
“Cough! Brother. Why are you doing this? Let go of me…………”
“Let go? Why should I let go! You pieces of trash dare to screw me over? You think you’ll get away with this!”
Seong-jun struggled while clutching the hands that held his collar, as if he couldn’t withstand Kang Jae-jun’s strength.
However, the words coming out of his mouth were not like that at all.
“Chuckle, you should have treated us better from the start. How does it feel to get stabbed in the back by a couple of F-ranks? Does it sting a bit?”
With a pained expression on his face, Seong-jun spoke in a voice quiet enough that only Kang Jae-jun could hear.
Thus, to anyone else watching, it still looked like he was struggling because he couldn’t do anything about Kang Jae-jun’s physical strength.
Of course, Kang Jae-jun, who heard those words directly, was simply dumbfounded.
—
I Became an EX-Class All-Rounder Priest Episode 9
E-book Publication Date: 2025.11.14
Author: Kim Hyeon-jun
Publisher: Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Publishing House: Poten
Address: [04783] 10th Floor, 11-gil 8, Yeonmujang, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone: 02-6320-8500
Fax: 02-6320-8585
ISBN: 9791175302167
Price | Not for Sale
© Kim Hyeon-jun 2025
This e-book is a work protected by copyright law.
Since this e-book was published by contract with the author, unauthorized reproduction, duplication, distribution, and sharing without the written consent of both parties are prohibited.