[You have defeated the Undead Knight Commander.]

[You have gained 2,300 EXP!]

[You have gained an additional 2,300 EXP from the Perk effect.]

[You have gained 3,300 Gold.]

[Level up!!]

[Level up!!]

“Haaah… Haaah…”

Ha Gangwoo lowered his trembling hand. Smoke curled lazily from the pistol’s muzzle.

“Whew… That was close…”

As he sighed in relief, Lee Ayeon plopped down beside him.

“Wow~ you’re really strong~ I thought I was gonna die.”

She grinned, eyes curved into crescents. A sweet fragrance drifted from her.

‘An A-rank Trait, huh…’

Ha Gangwoo looked at Lee Ayeon.

Was she nineteen? She was beautiful. Her heavy eye makeup gave her an enigmatic air.

Not a single bead of sweat on her brow. Not a speck of dust or blood, either.

In contrast, Gangwoo was covered head to toe in grime, drenched in the Undead Knight Commander’s blood.

‘What kind of Trait does she have…’

He suddenly grew curious. Her pristine state must have been thanks to her Trait.

She had no reason to fight directly, so there was no way for her to get dirty or sweat.

Ha Gangwoo looked away and reloaded his pistol.

‘Almost out of bullets.’

Seven rounds left—a single magazine. He worried about the upcoming boss fight.

Just as Gangwoo was assessing his remaining strength—

“Oh?!!!”

Lee Ayeon jumped up and walked over to the Undead Knight Commander’s corpse.

‘What’s she up to now.’

Ha Gangwoo sat down on the floor and watched Lee Ayeon.

The Undead Knight Commander had been killed by nine bullets hammered into its head alone. Three consecutive Explosive Rounds had done the heavy lifting.

Which meant the Undead Knight Commander’s appearance was enough to make anyone retch.

So what the hell was she grinning about, sidling up to it like that?

Lee Ayeon started rummaging through the Knight Commander’s chest armor. Then she broke into a bright smile and lifted something up high.

A small card glinted in Lee Ayeon’s hand.

“It’s an item~!!!”

A D-grade Catalog, no less! She’d scored a real loot drop.

Lee Ayeon came over to Gangwoo’s side with the Catalog and plopped down with a thump.

[Active Skill Catalog]

Grade: D

Description: Randomly acquires one of the D-grade active skills.

“Whoa~ Not only is it D-grade, it’s an active skill~ Regular D-grades go for about 1 to 2 million Gold, so… would this be around 3.5 million??”

Lee Ayeon tilted her head, holding up the Catalog.

‘Three… three million Gold???’

Ha Gangwoo’s eyes went wide.

It was astonishing — just this one little card worth a whole 3.5 million Gold.

Lee Ayeon tilted her head again, touching her lower lip with her index finger.

“What do you want to do with this? Should we roll the die? Or split it in half??”

She was asking how they should divvy up the item.

‘Hmm…’

Ha Gangwoo sank into thought for a moment.

‘Play it safe and split? Or leave it to luck?’

Then he made up his mind.

“Let’s roll the die.”

Better to settle it cleanly here than haggle over an awkward half-and-half. If they decided to split it, who’d carry it until they left the tower? It was too messy.

“Alright~”

Lee Ayeon brought her index finger to the air. She must have pulled up a system window.

A few taps — click, click — and then with a smooth swish, a die materialized in midair.

It was the kind of die used to decide ownership of rare items.

“I’ll throw first~”

Lee Ayeon sprang up from her spot, picked up the die, and tossed it.

Whir — the die spun round and round, then dropped to the floor with a soft thud.

Right then.

Ding-

-Lee Ayeon: [89]

A system window floated up in front of Ha Gangwoo.

Then, with another smooth sound—

A die popped out in front of Ha Gangwoo.

Ha Gangwoo picked up the die and stood.

[Random Die]

Grade: ???

Description: A die used for item distribution. When thrown, a random number (1~100) appears.

The die was a square rectangular solid with no markings at all. It looked just like a black cube.

‘Eighty-nine… She’s got some luck…’

Eighty-nine was practically a hundred. The odds of winning looked slim.

Ha Gangwoo gave a bitter smile and rolled the dice.

Whir—the dice spun in a blur before tumbling to a stop at his feet.

The moment the black die hit the floor, a number flashed.

[88]

‘Ah!!!!’

Gangwoo’s face scrunched up.

He’d lost the item by a single point. Just one.

‘Frustrating…’

His luck had been good since morning, but it seemed he’d used it all up. If he had to lose, why not by a landslide? What was the point of one measly point?

‘Well… three Explosive Rounds in a row was enough luck to burn through anyway…’

Gangwoo smacked his lips at the memory of taking down the Undead Knight Commander.

That was when it happened.

Ding-

[You have obtained an Active Skill Catalog.]

“Huh??”

A Catalog popped out in front of Gangwoo with a soft thud.

‘What the—?’

Just as Gangwoo was staring in confusion, the hologram that had materialized before him held the answer.

A faint smile crept onto his lips.

-Lee Ayeon: [89]

-Ha Gangwoo: [90](2↑)

‘No way…’

The Luck stat had boosted his dice roll by 2.

Unaware of this, Ayeon smacked her lips in disappointment.

“Ah~! I lost~ That’s too bad. Congratulations!!”

She smiled with crescent eyes, genuinely congratulating him.

For a moment, Gangwoo’s conscience pricked him like he’d cheated. But he quickly reconsidered.

Wasn’t the Luck stat also a product of his Trait?

Just as Ayeon could summon over thirty Skeletons with one Trait, he had used his Trait to boost the dice roll by 2. Fair was fair.

“Thank you. Let’s go get it.”

“Okay~”

Gangwoo and Ayeon walked toward the altar, where pillars of light shimmered.

On the altar was a single shield radiating intense brilliance. The golden light enveloping it seemed to connect to the sky itself.

“I’ll go get it~”

Ayeon hopped lightly onto the altar.

It felt like something should have happened, but she claimed the armament without incident.

***

[Lance Imbued with Sacred Light]

Grade:C

Durability:50/50

Attack Power:89

Strength:+61

Agility:+36

Description:Reins’ lance, wielded by the Imperial Guard Captain of Sky Land. Its potent holy power makes it effective against darkness-aligned enemies. (Dungeon-exclusive item. Disappears upon clearing the dungeon.)

Effects

-1,000% increased Damage against demon-type enemies.

*Set Effect (0/2)

-Grants the weapon the Judgment of Destruction effect.

[Light Shield Imbued with Sacred Light]

Grade:C

Durability:100/100

Defense:110

Vitality:+99

Mana:+21

Description:Reins’ shield, wielded by the Imperial Guard Captain of Sky Land. Its potent holy power makes it effective against darkness-aligned enemies. (Dungeon-exclusive item. Disappears upon clearing the dungeon.)

Effects

-Nullifies dark magic while guarding.

*Set Effect (0/2)

-Bestows the Judgment of Destruction effect on the weapon.

The artifacts he’d brought back were, in a word, broken items.

The kind of gear worth well over a hundred million—if only you could take it out of here.

“Good work.”

Kang Seongbin, gripping the two artifacts, said it with a flat expression.

Blood caked his entire body; his clothes were shredded. It was clear the process of securing those items hadn’t been smooth.

Ha Gangwoo shifted his gaze to the holographic window floating before him.

[Time until Demon Summon: 57:56]

Less than an hour left now. Judging by the item’s difficulty and the Undead Knight Commander’s strength, he was starting to worry about the boss monster ahead.

As Ha Gangwoo fretted over the dungeon, Kang Seongbin continued.

“We have until 51 minutes before the summon. I’ll brief the strategy once we’re prepped. Restore HP and MP to full.”

The serious look on his face made it clear—this was a super rookie who’d been trained by elites.

With that, each of them set to their preparations.

Kang Seongbin disappeared into the forest with the artifacts; Chae Seohyun and Lee Ayeon seemed to be talking, then vanished together somewhere.

‘Where’s everyone going…?’

Ha Gangwoo watched his party members recede into the distance.

Kang Seongbin had left to study the artifacts and scout the terrain—Chae Seohyun and Lee Ayeon to summon Skeletons—but Gangwoo had no way of knowing that.

‘Preparation, huh.’

Ha Gangwoo plopped down onto the ground.

‘Let’s start with stat allocation.’

Status distribution, then the DLC store, Skill Catalogs—there was a lot to do.

Ha Gangwoo opened his Status Window immediately.

[Ha Gangwoo]

Level: 18

HP: 810/810

MP: 60/60

Strength: 70(+10)

Agility: 50(+35)

Vitality: 51(+30)

Mana: 50(+10)

Sense: 40(+10)

Luck: 40(+10)

Unallocated: 14

Ha Gangwoo crossed his arms and rubbed his chin.

‘Hmm…’

14 points. It felt like a lot and yet an awkward number at the same time. There was only one stat to put it into—the one boasting extreme efficiency!

Luck: 40 → 50 (10↑)

Strength: 70 → 74 (4↑)

Luck, with its probability rising 1% every 20 points. The Gray Leather Armor set effect already gave him +10 Luck.

In other words, a 10-point investment would yield results right away. So Ha Gangwoo put 10 points into Luck.

[On firing, 13% (↑3) chance to grant the bullet the Explosive Round effect.]

Sure enough, the probability went up by 1%.

A faint smile crept onto Ha Gangwoo’s face as he opened his Inventory.

[Active Skill Catalog]

Grade: D

Description: Randomly acquire one D-grade active skill.

What remained was a D-grade Skill Catalog—no small thing.

“A melee skill would be nice.”

Ha Gangwoo studied the Catalog, hoping for a close-range skill.

Fireball was good—he wouldn’t deny that. But it had its flaws.

Compared to Straight Punch, its destructive power fell short. Sure, pumping MP into it boosted the damage, but that took time—time he might not have.

And honestly, up-close fighting suited him better anyway. Hucking projectiles from a distance just didn’t feel right in his hands.

Gangwoo didn’t hesitate. He activated the Catalog.

A low hum— *whirrr*—and the Catalog dissolved into a halo of light, seeping into his body like warm water.

*Ding-*

[Attack Stance]

Grade: D

Type: Active

MP Cost: 30

Action: Plant both feet firmly on the ground.

Effect: Your next attack deals 2x damage. Has a 3.01% (3↑) chance to trigger Extreme Strike Stance, granting 10x destructive power.

“No way…”

It wasn’t the attack skill he’d been hoping for—but this was beyond anything he’d imagined. And that probabilistic proc? Absolutely insane.

*Ten times…*

The base chance was a paltry 0.01%—essentially nonexistent for most people. But not for Ha Gangwoo. Thanks to his Luck stat, it carried a 3% bonus modifier.

A smile crept across Gangwoo’s lips.

*Perfect. Luck’s on my side today.*

Maybe it was the stat investment, but everything was falling into place.

One thing left.

[DLC Shop]

–

DLC – Curse of the Black Plague – 10,000,000 Gold

–

(Refresh)

Time to hunt for items with a Refresh.

[DLC – Curse of the Black Plague]

Grade: C

Description: Retake Heigron, destroyed by the Curse of the Black Plague! A variety of rewards await you!!

Effects

– Grants Warp Ring (Heigron).

– Grants 1 Curse of the Black Plague exclusive item!!

– Grants 1 Curse of the Black Plague exclusive Skill Catalog!!

[DLC – Curse of the Black Plague] was a prime pick. The exclusive items and skills were invaluable—worth more than words could describe. And the Warp Ring? He craved it. But ten million Gold was steep.

It seemed smarter to Refresh and grab something practical—a starter pack or a useful DLC.

Gangwoo checked his Gold.

[Gold: 55,100]

Not a fortune, but enough to hope for something within reach.

He clicked the Refresh button.

[All items will be replaced.]

[Proceed with full replacement?]

[Yes / No]

Gangwoo slammed Yes.

*Ding-*

A corner of his mouth lifted as he scanned the new DLC list.

“What’s this now?”