The moment of misunderstanding piled up.
"Ah, uh, we were just talking about how it's a shame we won't be able to raid together with Seong next time."
Hwawol quickly jumped in.
Seeing Seong's confused expression, as if to ask why would you be surprised?, Longfeng spoke up.
"Well, I mean, the voice came out of nowhere, so it's understandable to be surprised."
With his quick thinking, Seong nodded in agreement.
It made sense. If someone suddenly spoke from behind, anyone would be startled.
Feeling a bit guilty, Seong apologized.
"Ah, I’m sorry."
Although there was a strange sense of guilt among them, they still responded.
"Ah, no, no! I’m sorry for screaming, too."
"It’s fine. Ah, and we can always raid together next time."
"Ahh."
"Really~?"
"Wow."
Everyone admired Seong's words, and he nodded, feeling a little embarrassed.
Then, he quickly changed the subject.
"Hmm, so, do you have any schedules after this?"
"No, we’ve finished our schedules for now."
"Then I’ll head out first. I need to test some of the rewards I got."
Since he had to change the skill book using the Book of Despair, he was eager to check it out.
As Seong prepared to leave, the team waved him off, expressing their gratitude.
"Ah! We’ll see you next time!"
"Oh, great work today!"
"Mm~ I wonder if we’ll see you again~ Hope we do~"
"Let’s meet again next time."
With that, Seong left, and the remaining Luna team stood there, stunned, watching him exit the raid field, lost in thought.
Until now, they had been hunting solo during individual activities, but now, that had to change.
"Let’s have a meeting and figure out what to do next. I’ll report to the guild leader first."
"Right, we can’t keep hunting alone if we want to become a backup team for him."
"Mm~ sounds good~"
"Phew, let’s give it our all. Damn."
With their resolve firm, Luna immediately contacted Rapid for the report.
She had feared being ignored again, but fortunately, that wasn't the case.
[Luna - Reporting Seong's raid results.]
[Rapid - Already!?]
2.
In the office of the Guild Leader of Rapid Guild, Rapid was nervously twirling his pen, deep in thought.
Although he had tried to ignore it, the matter was significant, and it was hard not to worry. His work had been put on hold as he pondered.
Could Seong really defeat the raid boss alone?
He thought it was possible. After all, Seong had cleared the past fortress dungeon alone, so surely he could handle it.
Even if Anemore, the Wind Watcher, was a powerful boss for someone in the level 60s, it was just a raid boss, wasn’t it?
On the other hand, the past fortress was the first dungeon cleared after it was opened, and he had expected Seong to succeed.
‘...Maybe he could succeed after a few tries, but to succeed on the first attempt?’
Rapid had never really expected Seong to clear it on his first try. But just as he was getting lost in these thoughts, a message alert popped up.
There were several messages, but one name stood out—Luna.
[Luna - Reporting Seong’s raid results.]
[Rapid - Already!? Isn’t he still in the queue!?]
Already? Did that mean the first attempt failed?
If they had just entered after waiting in line, it couldn’t have been that long, right?
It had taken about an hour since they all gathered.
Could he have not cleared it?
But Rapid was quickly thrown off by the next message.
[Luna - Seong cleared it solo in 9 minutes and 57 seconds. He also took Anemore’s body with him. It seems like he has a skill that could turn the raid boss into an undead, though not immediately.]
‘What...?’
Rapid stared at the message in disbelief. Was this really the message he had received?
He was lost in thought, unsure how to respond.
Should he just acknowledge it for now?
But 9 minutes 57 seconds? Wasn’t that under 10 minutes? Other parties were struggling to last that long. Luna’s team had lasted a maximum of 15 minutes, didn’t they?
And that was at the end of phase one, wasn’t it?
His thoughts tangled up, trying to make sense of it all, until Luna’s next message interrupted.
[Luna - So our team is planning to go all-in on hunting as Seong’s backup team. We’ve already discussed it with the members. If we do this, our hunting activities will likely outnumber our raid participation. We’ll need to catch up with Seong’s leveling. I was wondering, do you have anyone available to recruit?]
A request for additional members.
It was a request that Rapid received from various teams regularly.
But this was the first time it came from Luna’s team.
To catch up with Seong’s leveling?
And they wanted to form a backup team?
Rapid paused, deep in thought as he read the message.
‘Yuna’s struggles are partly due to her being solo...’
They had discussed it before. It wasn’t easy to level up alone.
In a game where hunting in a party was more efficient, it was hard to level up solo.
While other single-rankers had backup teams, Yuna had made it to 9th place without one.
Even though her ranking gap with the 8th place player, who had a backup team, had nearly disappeared.
But now, they were talking about a backup team for Seong?
‘It makes sense.’
No matter how powerful Seong was as a necromancer, the strongest of them all, there were limits to what he could do alone.
The game was designed that way.
He could go solo until level 200, and it would still be efficient, but after that, it would become difficult.
Yuna had shown that.
When it came to clearing raids or dungeons, he could maintain his legion, but after that, it became an issue.
Once his mana ran out, a necromancer would be in serious trouble.
Seong might be exceptional in controlling his body, but he still had limits compared to other necromancers.
Considering all this, moving in a team was always more efficient.
If there was a backup team?
‘It would definitely help.’
Luna’s team had made a good choice.
And hadn’t they just recruited someone good?
A new recruit, someone who could be a good fit for Luna’s team.
[Rapid - We’ve just recruited a new rookie, and he’s someone who could compare to Luna’s team in terms of experience. I’ll be assigning him soon. I think the idea of a backup team is great, and I’ll pass it along to the other staff for a meeting.]
[Luna - Thank you. Please let me know when the new recruit arrives.]
After finishing his conversation with Luna, Rapid thought of the new recruit—Kim Che-geon, the "Joseon’s Best Sword" who had just joined.
It was a bit quirky, but it seemed like a good fit for Luna’s team.
A swordsman from Joseon?
Despite being German by nationality, he called himself Joseon, so the nickname "Joseon Samurai" seemed fitting.
Why a samurai?
‘Honestly, I never imagined his class would be a samurai.’
With the nickname "Joseon’s Best Sword" and being a German samurai, it was a strange mix.
But he was talented, so it didn’t matter.
Now, Rapid decided to contact Seong to discuss having him placed in the raid team while Luna’s team would focus on backup.
He also shared some details about the new terms and conditions, even though the contract hadn’t been finalized yet.
Then, Seong responded with excitement.
[Seong - Oh! Thank you! I was about to check out a hidden raid. I’ll send you the Anemore video tomorrow along with it.]
“???”
What did that mean?
A hidden raid? He just cleared the raid and already found a new hidden one?
Had he prepared it in advance?
It was a baffling message.
Rapid, feeling dizzy, closed his eyes.
It seemed like he had too much work ahead.
‘Another night of no sleep, I guess.’
Seong was helping the guild grow rapidly, but it was also a bit sad.
But what else could he do?
‘It’s necessary. I’ll do it.’
3.
As soon as Seong parted ways with the Luna team, he immediately moved to a quiet location.
Leaving the raid field by himself, some might have found it strange, but using Shadow Transition, he quickly hid his presence and moved, avoiding any commotion—though even if there had been one, it wouldn’t have been noticed.
Once he had arrived in a secluded spot, Seong immediately pulled out the Book of Despair.
He was planning to change his skill book right away.
‘I wonder what skill will come out of this.’
With a hint of anticipation, Seong held the Book of Despair and the skill book Summon Storm Spirit at the same time.
A message appeared, confirming he could use the Book of Despair.
[You are able to use the Book of Despair.]
[Do you wish to use it?]
[Yes / No]
Note: Using the Book of Despair will permanently destroy the skill book in question.
Do you wish to proceed?
It was a familiar warning, but Seong didn’t hesitate. He immediately chose to use it.
[Using the Book of Despair.]
With the sound of a swishing page, the Book of Despair opened, and the pages began to turn at a rapid speed.
Though there was no wind, the pages fluttered quickly, passing by countless ones.
Swoosh—!
Eventually, the book stopped at a single page.
As if torn, a page lifted into the air and burned with intense flames, turning to ash and scattering into the air.
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The ash disappeared somewhere before gathering into a single spot, where it settled over the skill book Seong was holding—Summon Storm Spirit—covering it completely as if snow had fallen.
The book began to glow brightly, its cover catching fire and turning to ash, spreading out from the edges, until the entire cover began to change.
Whoosh—!
The crackling sound of fire filled the air as the ash blew away, leaving only the skill book in Seong's hands.
The Summon Storm Spirit skill book had transformed into a new skill book.
The Book of Despair had done its work.
[The Book of Despair has transformed a Unique skill book, Summon Storm Spirit, into a Dark Magic skill book.]
[The Unique skill book, Summon Storm Spirit, has been transformed into Skill Theft.]
‘Skill Theft?’
A peculiar name for a skill. Seong found himself intrigued and instinctively used the skill book.
He didn’t hesitate; after all, that was the purpose of changing it.
The unnecessary confirmation prompt quickly disappeared, and Seong used the book.
[Using the Unique skill book, Skill Theft!]
[You have acquired the Unique skill, Skill Theft!]
Seong immediately opened the skill description.
『Skill Theft』
→ Unique
→ [Lv Max] [Complete]
[Instant Effect] [Active]
[Cooldown: 1 minute]
→ Exclusive skill for Dark Magic class.
→ Cancels an opponent’s skill they are about to use and steals it for your own use.
→ However, only skills of the same or lower rank can be stolen.
"Whoa!?"
It was a Dispel-like skill that canceled an enemy’s spell or skill.
But the interesting part was that not only could it cancel the skill, but Seong would also get to use it afterward.
‘This is insanely good!’
It would be great in PvP, but it was also useful against monsters with powerful abilities, like the ones Seong had faced in the raid against Anemore.
To cancel and then use their skills? That was an incredibly powerful ability.
With a satisfied smile, Seong decided to test the new skill out.
He moved toward a different field, not where the Giant Killer Bee was located, but the opposite side.
According to the terrain Luna’s team had shared, the monsters should be in this area.
After walking for some time through the forest, bird-like monsters started to appear.
Ash Crow, monsters in the shape of crows that spread ash as they flew.
They were quite troublesome, as the ash they scattered would easily ignite anything it touched.
Compared to the Giant Killer Bee, the Ash Crow was faster, but it hadn’t been considered during the Anemore raid.
But now, things were different.
He thought about using Skill Theft on them, but then shook his head.
‘Stealing their ash-spreading skill seems a bit much.’
To get a clearer sense of the skill’s effect, he decided it would be best to try it against a boss.
But for now, there was another skill he hadn’t tested.
With all the new skills and items, Seong was eager to try them.
"Kaahhh!"
"Kaahhh—!"
"Kaahhh! Kaak!"
The Ash Crows charged at him, frantically scattering ash in all directions.
The swirling ash began to envelop him like a storm.
It seemed like the ashes were about to cover him entirely, but suddenly, a translucent shield of wind appeared, blocking the storm of ash.
Whooosh—!
Though it was a shield of wind, the ash that had been gathering was blown away, and Seong stood unharmed.
‘Oh?’
It was the Wind Shield he had just used.
It seemed quite effective.
Seong then summoned one of his simplest skills, Bone Arrow, and shot it at one of the Ash Crows.
The moment the arrow hit, a powerful gust of wind surged, forcefully pushing the Ash Crows back.
But that was all.
[Effect of One Strike! is activated!]
The damage was minimal, without even a critical hit, but the knockback effect was impressive.
The Ash Crows were sent flying, clearly startled by the force.
Seong himself wore a similar expression.
“Hm.”
The knockback effect was strong, but there didn’t seem to be any significant damage boost.
It was a bit disappointing, but the knockback alone was still a useful effect.
“Well, then... let’s try sweeping through them.”
There were still four skills he hadn’t tested yet.
Hoping the Ash Crows wouldn’t be finished before he could test them, Seong grinned.
The Ash Crows suddenly froze, realizing something was terribly wrong.