Before digging into the ground, I decided to wait a bit for my potentially arriving master.
While swinging my sword, I watched Rainy’s goofy dance, which was particularly cheerful today.
The sight I was hoping for didn’t appear.
(Always telling me to check my posture! Seriously, Grandfather Orb needs to reflect on his actions!)
Rainy, perhaps feeling my earlier moment of danger, complained in an excited voice.
‘Hmph… You were just trying to train me, so don’t be so harsh.’
(I don’t know! Il-wol is too soft-hearted!)
‘Is that so? Anyway, I’ll have to practice swordsmanship alone today. Should I warm up by digging into the ground first?’
[Ground Tunnel Destroyer]
After activating the trait, I planted my fingertips into the floor.
Whoosh—
‘Oh?! It really works?’
– You can dig through any terrain resembling earth much more easily.
I read the description of the trait [Ground Tunnel Destroyer] again, surprised.
‘So, it means this is either land or something similar… It’s not like only my spirit is moving around, right?’
Looking at all the things I killed, it felt evident this was the real world, but I had some lingering doubts. Now, those thoughts were unnecessary.
‘So where exactly is this place? Do you have a clue? You’ve been here all day.’
(Well! I’m just stuck in one spot, so I don’t really know. One thing’s for sure: the deeper you go, the denser the mana gets!)
‘What? Really?’
Curious if it was true, I started digging seriously.
Dugugugu—
‘Wow… The resistance gets absurdly greater the deeper I go?’
Even after just digging about a meter, the ground’s hardness skyrocketed exponentially.
‘But it definitely shows that the mana concentration is increasing.’
No wonder my magic recovery was unusually fast in here; it was clearly an area full of mana.
I focused all my efforts until my hands could no longer dig into the ground.
‘The sound of digging is lovely.’
Scrape-scrape—
Simplicity really is the best.
As I dug honestly, sticking with the effort let my mind relax, and before I knew it, a smile crept across my face.
Even better.
– [Ground Tunnel Destroyer] Level Up…
– [Ground Tunnel Destroyer] Level Up…
– [Ground Tunnel Destroyer] Level Up…
‘Oh! Keep it up! Keep it coming!’
Even when I caught Nam Yong-seok or infiltrated the underground factory of the organization ‘Do’, my level didn’t rise. Yet here, just a few meters in, my experience points were skyrocketing.
Ground Tunnel Destroyer Lv.4
– You can dig through any terrain resembling earth much more easily.
– Movement speed while burrowing increases by 40% (+15).
– Sensation for detecting enemies outside the tunnel increases.
– Defense +135 (+90) when charging at designated enemies outside the tunnel.
‘Wow. What a jackpot. My speed and defense just shot up!’
With each level increase, the depth I could dig increased a little deeper, but that was short-lived.
Right when I managed to dig about as deep as my head, I hit my limit.
Interestingly, the stone fragments I had dug out and tossed aside had somehow gathered together and solidified into a regular shape.
‘Whew, can’t dig any further. This definitely isn’t ordinary ground, huh?’
Wiping my brow with my hand despite not sweating, I picked up one of the crystallized fragments lying around and examined it absentmindedly.
The fist-sized square stone was faintly glowing.
– A substance that requires [Identification].
‘Wait, what? This broken floor requires [Identification]? But people with the skill [Identification] are harder to find than purification abilities…’
Those born with non-combat skills like [Identification] or [Purification] always tended to keep a low profile.
If they stumbled upon the wrong bad faction, they could end up locked away for life, only using their skills until death.
‘I have to find someone somehow. If I ask Yeon-su, she might know.’
I picked up another suspicious fragment with pretty cracks and injected some mana into it.
Wooooo—
It felt like something was absorbing the mana and then pushing it back out.
‘Then…’
Since there was no change when just injecting mana…
‘I’ll infuse some mana… and also some sensation…’
With those thoughts, I brought together the two pieces I had infused with vitality.
Thud!
‘?!’
(Oh wow! What’s happening?! The stones are sticking together?)
‘… I was just trying things out, but they fused into one?’
Pieces had split into triangles and squares, but when I roughly matched them up and infused them with mana and sensation at the same time, they merged together effortlessly.
I decided to tap the stone with my dagger.
‘Feels like it’s gotten sturdier.’
– Infused with the energy of fused mana and sensation, it has been enhanced.
– It possesses remarkable strength and hardness.
‘……’
[Flame Cut]
Bang!
I swung my dagger, and only a few centimeters were barely cut through. If it weren’t for [Penetration] and [Pierce] being absent, I might not have made even that dent.
‘Hoh… This could definitely come in handy!’
The mysterious stone glimmered brightly in response to my attack.
Wooooo—
I started gathering more of the fallen fragments scattered on the ground into my space.
‘Hmm… If stacked well, I could build something as small as an igloo.’
I now had the ability to create a stylish stone house from anywhere!
Of course, utilizing this phenomenon would require a good amount of time and mana.
But for someone like me, who had experienced an unwanted stint of being trapped, these stones were precious resources.
‘Whenever there’s time, I’ll smash the ground… and when danger arrives someday, I’ll have my own cozy home.’
As I was musing this, suddenly the ground I had dug vibrated, and the pit I had created, nearly two meters deep, slowly began to fill back in.
I jumped back startled and raced over to Rainy, only to see the destroyed floor quickly rise up and become flat again.
In the dark space, only the flames emanating from my body flickered for a moment.
Rainy and I exchanged blank stares.
(Wow! What?! I’ve never seen anything recover this quickly!)
‘Did it recover even when you dug in with roots?’
(No, it gently wrapped around my roots. It didn’t push me away.)
‘So merging naturally is alright… but what on earth is this place?’
Not only did I realize this was a space connected to my personal area prepared for regressions, but I also confirmed it was not a solitary space since even the stones making up the ground were unusual.
‘…… Ah, whatever. Let’s just train.’
It was not something worth worrying over.
I should ask my master about this too.
Huuuuuuh──!
I decided to focus on the ability I acquired yesterday that slices through space.
Pip!
Pip!
Even without my concentration at its peak, flames ignited in the air as I sliced through the space.
Like riding a bike back from childhood, I was now able to do it without even thinking about it.
As I entered training, Rainy quietly watched me, her mouth shut tight.
Sometimes she wiggled her branches as if cheering me on, which felt nice.
Thanks to Rainy, I was able to finish my training without feeling bored until Yeon-hee called for me.
‘Huh— I’m definitely improving.’
(Huh? Improving? Zzzzip- zipzip-)
While Rainy tightly hugged me with her branches and eagerly consumed the mana flowing from my body, she asked.
‘The length and depth of the cut through space. Although it’s a tiny bit, it’s surely increasing as I train honestly. Can you ask for something more rewarding than this? Haha.’
(That’s great. Ho ho ho! Zipzip-)
Rainy casually chimed in while completely wrapping herself around me.
‘…… Are you squeezing me too tightly?’
(Sorry. This way I can cover more surface area and absorb even more. You never know when you might suddenly disappear!)
‘Well…’
– A seed of astonishing potential and bonding is explosively growing!
– The seed of potential holds great affection for you!
Though being wrapped snugly around by Rainy made movement uncomfortable, seeing that message made it bearable.
‘I guess being alone in a place like this makes you depend on me… That makes sense.’
Since my growth was noticeably swift, I should soon receive appropriate rewards for nurturing the seed.
‘May you grow splendidly.’
After a while, I began to feel Rainy’s embrace loosening gradually, but unexpectedly, a message popped up that left me dumbfounded.
〔List of Possible Traits〕
1. Guide Yoon Han-gyeol
2. Summoner Lee Yeon-hee
〔Collecting Information…〕
1. Ice Mage Noh Ha-yoon
2. Second-rate Knight Baek Ah-rin
3. Sorceress Bae Joo-ah
4. Ran
5. Bard of Salvation Ham Eun-young
‘Noh Ha-yoon has been at the top for a while now, and it looks like Ah-rin has become a second-rate knight? Growth has been reflected.’
1. Ice Mage Noh Ha-yoon
– You have achieved an accomplishment in cooperation with the target.
– You are currently using the ‘Bone Dagger’ crafted with focus.
– The target’s affection toward you is ‘very high.’
– Information collection is 89% complete…
‘…… Using the bone dagger…?’
Could it mean that she’s trying to comfort herself right now?
‘Hayoon, what on earth are you doing since dawn…?’
I remembered an article I read about morning being a peak time for sexual desire, but what could she be doing since she got off work yesterday and then suddenly acts like this?
Though I wished she’d restrain herself from expending too much energy before delving into dungeons, it was something Hayoon would be unaware of—the fact that her actions would be communicated to me.
‘Wow— still, seeing my information collection jump more than 10% in one go proves my theory right. Huh?! It’s now over 90%!’
I silently cheered Hayoon, who was busily stimulating herself somewhere far off.
Wooooo─
I was staring intently at the stalled information collection at 90% when suddenly, a massive door began to manifest next to me.
With a gleeful smile, thinking a meaningful growth in [Trait] awaited me, I said my goodbyes to Rainy.
Rainy, for some unknown reason, swayed around like someone drunk, looking particularly pleased.
(You have to come back again tomorrow, Il-wol! Bye!)
‘Bye—!’
Clank─!
Entering the door and exiting nearly synchronized.
“Peek-a-boo!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap?!”
I couldn’t help but be surprised every time I saw Yeon-hee waiting to greet me.
‘The brightness is hard to get used to.’
It was only one door away, but a completely different world unfolded before me.
And that boundary was merely the presence of Yeon-hee in front of me.
“Eh? Sniff-sniff— Sniff—”
But Yeon-hee was wandering around me, sniffing, with a puzzled expression.
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