*Crackle-*

In the forest, insects chirped.

The red moon was setting as twin suns lit the land.

Ha Gangwoo sat on the freezing ground, staring at his palm. The alien black glove felt especially sinister today.

[Barzel’s Appetite]

Grade: ???

Durability: ∞/∞

Satiety: 95/100

Attack Power: 81 (51↑)

Strength: +43

Agility: +21 (NEW)

Mana: +6

Description: A glove imbued with Barzel’s Appetite. A powerful hunger lingers within, so beware — it may consume its user as well.

Effects

– Barzel’s Appetite gains the Devour effect.

– 30% (5↑) chance of explosion on striking.

– Gains the Extreme Pain effect.

– Paralysis Fog can be used. (NEW)

Ha Gangwoo looked at the Status Window and allowed himself a satisfied smile.

‘As expected — it’s good.’

He’d Devoured the monsters he killed while bringing Evan back.

From Basilante, who’d been torturing Evan, he absorbed 51 Attack Power. From the monster attacking Shamiel, he drained 21 Agility.

But there was one effect he was most curious about.

The skill he’d gained from absorbing the NPC Zenon — he couldn’t stop wondering about it.

Ha Gangwoo narrowed his eyes and checked the new effect.

[Paralysis Fog can be used.]

‘Paralysis Fog?’

He immediately opened the detailed info on Paralysis Fog.

Ding-

[Paralysis Fog]

Grade: A

Type: Active

MP Consumption: 1~ (The more Mana consumed, the greater the volume.)

Action: Hold your breath.

Effect: Exhales a Paralysis Fog that lasts for 30 minutes.

*Paralysis Fog: A fog that numbs the five senses.

Ha Gangwoo read through the detailed information, then stroked his chin, intrigued.

“Not bad.”

The fog that had blanketed the area around Zenon’s hideout. He knew firsthand how broken it was.

Never mind the blindness—it was the way sound and touch went numb, the creeping unease that gnawed at your mind inside that mist.

And now he was learning that skill. Not bad at all.

‘Let’s try it.’

Ha Gangwoo turned his back on the sleeping Shamiel and her party, then opened his palm.

The Activation word was to stop breathing.

But Ha Gangwoo didn’t stop breathing.

He simply gathered Mana into his palm. Just as the Mana materialized like a cloud above his hand.

‘Paralysis Fog’

He invoked the Activation word in his mind.

Ding-

[You have used Paralysis Fog.]

[You have consumed 10 MP.]

Fssss-

From the palm wielding Barzel’s Appetite, white fog oozed out in wisps.

He had used the Action Skip he learned from Emily Nancy.

Ha Gangwoo stared at the ground where the fog settled.

The fog clung low to the earth, thick and tenacious, as if dry ice had melted into the ground.

[You have consumed 10 MP.]

[You have consumed 20 MP.]

[You have consumed 5 MP.]

Ha Gangwoo used Paralysis Fog repeatedly to grasp its mechanics.

‘I get the gist.’

The more Mana he poured in, the greater the volume and density of the fog.

Ha Gangwoo spread his palm and compressed the Mana. The fog coalesced into spheres; when he scattered it, it spread far.

‘Would be useful in cave-type Dungeons or against groups of enemies.’

A fog that numbed the five senses—he wanted to test it on Monsters right away, but now he had to wait.

Ha Gangwoo opened his palm and looked at Barzel’s Appetite.

‘The problem is the Satiety.’

[Satiety: 95/100]

Barzel’s Appetite—he liked everything about it, but the Satiety gauge filled too fast. Hitting 100 after just four Devours.

‘I’ll have to work on the Satiety for a while.’

To keep Devouring, managing Satiety was essential.

Ha Gangwoo slumped back against the tree and sat down heavily. The humid predawn air made the ground damp.

‘Now for the rewards.’

The next thing to check was the reward from completing the main Quest.

What item had it given? A Quest that involved saving an NPC while taking down a sub-Boss-class Monster.

Thump— thump—

With a difficulty that high, his anticipation for the reward was at its peak.

Ding-

Inventory (7/10)

[Madness of Temperance]

[Warp Altar x1]

[DLC – Book of Job Change: Blood Devil]

[DLC – Book of Job Change: Legendary Blacksmith]

[Serchel’s Core]

[Big Glaive]

[Mysterious Golden Feather]

[-]

[-]

[-]

The new item in the Inventory was the Mysterious Golden Feather.

Ha Gangwoo frowned as he looked at the newly acquired item. Just reading about it was enough—the energy radiating from it felt mediocre.

[Mysterious Golden Feather][DLC Hidden]

Grade: F

Description: A mysterious golden feather. It always points toward the same direction. Legend says a powerful armament slumbers at the end of that direction.

“What the hell?”

The reward was a mere F-grade item. On top of that, its effect was vague.

Ha Gangwoo tilted his head as he read the item’s effect.

Hadn’t he taken down a whole three mid-boss-grade monsters? Sure, he’d lost Teil and Zenon, but he’d saved Rain, Evan, and Shamiel—the important ones.

And yet the reward was an F-grade item. Disappointing.

Ha Gangwoo furrowed his brow and reread the description, chewing over every word.

‘A powerful armament sleeps at the end of the direction… A linked item, then.’

It wasn’t just a simple reward—it was an item that connected to the next quest. A chain item.

‘My head hurts.’

As if he didn’t already have enough choices to make his head spin.

Right now, there were four options total.

[1. Request aid from the Skeron Kingdom.]

[2. Search for Teil’s whereabouts and head to the Teron Kingdom.]

[3. Lie low and build strength.]

[4. Go to Brace Mountain to rescue your companion.]

But now, a fifth option had been added.

Ha Gangwoo scratched the back of his head and opened his palm.

‘Golden Feather.’

The moment he uttered the activation word, the golden feather dropped softly into his palm and settled there.

It was the size of his palm, a feather bathed in an antique golden glow.

The feather slowly—turned in his hand, then pointed in one direction.

Ha Gangwoo followed the feather with his eyes, his expression hardening.

‘That way, then.’

Because he’d made up his mind about what to do next.

He’d been torn, but he’d been leaning toward Route 2.

[2. Search for Teil’s whereabouts and head to the Teron Kingdom.]

Marching into the Teron Kingdom matched the kingdom route written in the clearing guide.

A method that skipped every process and went straight to the boss fight.

The difficulty was high, but it was the shortest path, and the rewards were supposedly good. But seeing this item changed his mind.

[Mysterious Golden Feather][DLC Hidden]

An item bearing the DLC Hidden tag, no less.

Hadn’t Barzel’s Appetite also come from a DLC Hidden? Even if it meant going out of his way, he couldn’t afford to miss a DLC Hidden reward.

[You have placed the Mysterious Golden Feather in your Inventory.]

And with that, his direction forward was set.

With a clear mind, Ha Gangwoo began distributing his stats.

Ding-

[Ha Gangwoo]

Level: 40→43 (↑3)

Agility: 80→100 (↑20)

Vitality: 86→87 (↑1)

‘Already at 43, huh.’

Gaining 3 levels from just one fight. As expected, nothing beat a Scenario for growth.

Ha Gangwoo spread his palm, a satisfied expression on his face.

Only one thing left.

‘Mimic.’

The moment the activation word crossed his mind, Mimic slurped—sucked right into his hand.

Mik! Mik!

She thumped his palm, venting some complaint, as if she had something to say.

Mimic was filthy, covered in dirt—probably from roaming Zenon’s hideout all this time.

Ha Gangwoo scratched his cheek at the sight of her.

‘Left her alone too long.’

The sudden monster ambush at the start of the Scenario, the rescue quest for Rain and Teil—he’d been too busy.

But he hadn’t just abandoned her without thought.

After several battles, he’d figured out Mimic’s behavior pattern.

When a fight broke out, Mimic kept her distance on her own. Found a safe spot. Only moved once the battle ended.

A 70 million Gold warehouse—turns out it had a decent evasion function.

Ha Gangwoo grabbed the sulking Mimic and smacked his lips.

‘Did she get one?’

With Mimic’s rank up now, he was curious if a skill had appeared.

He immediately checked Mimic’s Status Window.

[Mimic]

Rank: D

Status: Roamed everywhere searching for Master. Very tired—please take good care of me.

HP: 98/100

Satiety: 23/100

Capacity: 26/50

Skill: [Mimic Summon] [NEW]

A smile touched Ha Gangwoo’s lips as he looked at the Status Window.

‘There it is.’

Just as he’d thought, a skill selection window marked [NEW] had appeared.

But one thing bothered him.

‘HP’s down.’

Whether from being left alone too long, Mimic’s mood and health were both out of sorts.

Mimic was a living warehouse.

‘Guess I need to pay more attention.’

[5,000 Gold has been retrieved from Inventory.]

Ha Gangwoo took out the Gold and handed it to Mimic.

[5,000 Gold has been given to Mimic.]

[Satiety has increased by 50.]

Mik!

As if she’d never been upset, Mimic bounced around happily, flopping up and down.

While Mimic gobbled up the Gold, Ha Gangwoo checked her skills.

Ding-

[Please select a skill.]

[Aura of Growth]—Mimic gains the Aura of Growth effect.

[Evolution]—Mimic evolves.

[Expansion]—Mimic’s capacity increases.

‘Aura of Growth?’

Ha Gangwoo stared at the skills, lost in thought.

Normally, he would have picked Evolution without a second thought.

The Evolution skill.

There was no description of what stats would rise, but it seemed most likely to increase Mimic’s Vitality, which was the most important.

But this new Aura of Growth—just reading it sparked his curiosity.

‘Does it give extra EXP? Or increase Mimic’s growth rate?’

Questions swirled, and Ha Gangwoo immediately checked the Aura of Growth’s effect.

[Aura of Growth]

Description: Grants a special aura to Mimic.

Effect: Grants the Aura of Growth effect to Party members within 100M of Mimic.

*Aura of Growth: Increases EXP gained from monsters by 50%.

“She’s insane.”

The moment Ha Gangwoo read the description, a grin spread across his lips.

An EXP boost option—an effect he hadn’t expected at all.

‘No way. Does it stack with the Jumping Character DLC?’

The Jumping Character came with a 100% EXP increase. If they overlapped, his growth would skyrocket.

Even if they didn’t stack, he couldn’t ignore the potential synergy. He couldn’t give this up.

‘I’ll go with this.’

Without a second thought, Gangwoo selected Mimic’s skill.

Ding-

[Mimic has learned the Aura of Growth.]

The moment the skill was acquired, an orange magic circle rippled beneath Mimic’s feet.

The glowing sigil under the old crate gave the scene an imposing atmosphere.

‘Did it work?’

Just as doubt crept in.

[You have received the effect of the Aura of Growth.]

Simultaneously with the system chime, a circular magic circle formed under Gangwoo’s feet.

‘Insane.’

He’d need to hunt monsters to be sure, but the skill had definitely taken effect.

With all preparations complete, Gangwoo watched Mimic scoop up Gold and waited for Evan’s party to rise.

***

Crack!

The campfire warmed the chilly dawn air.

After coming to their senses, Shamiel and Evan expressed their gratitude to Gangwoo.

“Thank you so much.”

Zelta, too, seemed fully recovered, looking healthy.

“Sob… sob… My master really is gone. You avenged him—thank you, truly.”

Thanking him for avenging someone? He felt a slight twinge, remembering he’d Devoured Zenon’s corpse.

After a few more exchanges, Evan and Shamiel asked Gangwoo what they should do next.

“I have an idea.”

Gangwoo spoke with confidence, then retrieved the Mysterious Feather.

The feather, always staring in one direction.

Gangwoo’s extraordinary nature met the feather’s mystery.

“When we reach the end of this place, everything will be resolved.”

At Gangwoo’s words, Evan and Shamiel nodded.

“Let’s leave right away.”

Rain was still asleep, but at Gangwoo’s command, Evan’s party began to move.

Chirp- Chirp-

In the forest where birds sang, yesterday’s hell was nowhere to be seen—only peace remained.

With Gangwoo in the lead, Evan’s party followed behind. A heavy gloom pressed in.

Gangwoo offered sandwiches, but no one ate. After what they’d been through, eating would’ve been stranger.

Gangwoo kept walking, his gaze fixed on the golden feather fluttering over his left hand.

Whoosh-

A Fireball flickered in the grip of Gangwoo’s right hand.

[3 MP consumed.]

[3 MP consumed.]

[3 MP consum…]

The Fireball, strengthened by Mana Materialization.

[10 HP damage dealt.]

[10 HP damage dealt.]

…

..

.

By the time Gangwoo’s fire resistance grew potent enough to be pushed—

Ha Gangwoo clenched his right hand into a hard fist.

Ssshh—

A dizzying pang of pain shot through him, then—

Ding—

[Barzel’s Appetite’s Satiety has decreased by 1.]

A welcome chime tapped at his ear.

‘Troublesome.’

The fastest method was to increase Barzel’s Appetite’s weight with the Gravity Belt, then hammer it against a solid lump of iron.

A single punch chewed off chunks of five points at a time—the optimal method—but right now, he couldn’t do it.

Ha Gangwoo clicked his tongue in regret, then resumed his satiety work.

***

Past the forest, a fairly wide plain spread out before him.

Ha Gangwoo furrowed his brow at the sight ahead.

‘A barrier?’

A colossal barrier stretched across the horizon, straight ahead.

Where the only gate seemed to be, a single castle stood.

“This is the border region. The boundary between the Teron continent and the Skeron continent.”

When Gangwoo hesitated, Evan stepped forward to explain.

A trace of Demonic energy still flowed through his body, but nothing seemed particularly wrong.

‘So it has the function of healing wounds with Demonic energy.’

Whether it was a Demonfolk-exclusive skill of Basilante’s or another use for Demonic energy, Gangwoo didn’t know—but he had learned one new fact.

Ha Gangwoo started walking and asked Evan.

A single castle guarding the border—a feeling that things were about to get troublesome washed over him.

“It looks like we need to get past that. Is there another route?”

If passing through the castle was the only way, he’d rather just break through the barrier and go.

“No, there isn’t. But there’s no need to worry. The Teron Kingdom and House Skeron are allies. Besides, I’ve met the Castle Lord of Kedin Castle before.”

“I see.”

Ha Gangwoo looked at Evan’s confident expression and decided to head for the castle.

‘He’s saying it that confidently—it should be fine.’

From here on, it was truly uncharted territory.

With the border region appearing, the scenario would be based on the Skeron Kingdom route.

From a rough read, it went: meet someone at some castle, do favorability work, then meet the king of Skeron and do something to gain command of a few tens of thousands of troops from the Skeron continent—but he wasn’t keen on it.

‘Should I just go take a look, then leave?’

Come to think of it, there was also the option to go out with the Warp Ring and look for information.

‘Forget it.’

But since the scenario had changed with the DLC, even knowing the information might only bring confusion.

Ha Gangwoo and Evan’s group approached the center of the barrier—a giant castle.

‘Taller than I thought.’

Up close, the barrier was quite majestic. It stood about as tall as a ten-story apartment building, and the gate was massive too.

The grand architecture, the feeling of stepping into another world—it sparked his interest.

‘Anything changed?’

Ha Gangwoo opened his Quest window to check the details.

[Scenario.1: The Greatest Crisis (1-2)][Main]

Description: It’s time for the final choice. Your decision will seal the Scenario’s end. Choose carefully.

The Quest still hung unselected.

Having chosen the DLC-Hidden route, he couldn’t rush in blind. But now that he’d reached the barrier, the Quest would update on its own.

‘This is probably the end.’

Ha Gangwoo felt it coming. Going by the Scenario’s flow so far, the moment he reached the city gate, there was a strong chance the Scenario would end.

‘Troublesome.’

He had nothing left to prep outside, so the whole System rigmarole just felt annoying.

Frowning at the bother, Ha Gangwoo trudged toward the gate.

Before the towering gate. About 500 meters out, Evan spoke with a grim face.

“I’ll take the lead.”

Ha Gangwoo watched wordlessly as Evan walked forward.

His armor was already rags. What remained was barely the torn-cloth emblem on his cloak—nothing more.

But Evan’s expression was sharper than ever.

Because he knew—this was the only thing he could still do.

And just as Evan trudged toward the gate, step by heavy step—

“HALT!!!”

A thunderous voice rang out.

Ding-

[Direction has been decided.]

[Quest has been updated.]

Just as expected—the Quest had changed.

But,

Ding-

[DLC-Another Story is being applied…]

[Mysterious Golden Feather in possession…]

[Hidden conditions have been met.]

Ding-

[You have obtained a DLC Hidden Quest.]

An unexpected turn.

Ha Gangwoo looked at the Hidden Quest window and curled a bitter smile.

“What the hell is this.”