Chapter 28 – Forest of Prostra (４)

Whoa…!

It didn’t hurt. There was no pain.

But it was an incredible experience.

It felt like every cell in his body was being remade.

His mind sharpened, his body brimming with Strength.

A feeling of being reborn as a completely new being.

This sensation…

It was one Gijun recognized.

Because he had felt it long ago.

The moment I first Awakened.

That was it.

It was exactly the same feeling he’d had when he first Awakened.

This is insane.

“How is this supposed to be a game?” he muttered.

He couldn’t believe it at all.

There had to be a Superhuman among the dev team.

Even then, how they managed to make it so real was beyond him — a complete non-sequitur.

Whoosh!

A storm-like surge of energy swept over Gijun’s body.

His hair shot upward, and the clothes he wore flapped wildly.

[I see…!]

Then the voice came again.

[You are worthy.]

“!!”

Worthy, it said.

The corner of Gijun’s mouth curled upward.

[If my judgment is not mistaken, and if you are worthy to possess me by my own measure… then you shall have me…!]

It didn’t bother to tell him how.

But Gijun already felt it.

That this wasn’t anything difficult.

[Now, accept me!]

Gijun did exactly that.

No — to be precise, he did nothing.

He simply let it in, still and silent.

Literally just that.

He merely accepted everything that poured into him.

Shhhhh-

The storm-like energy that had raged moments ago was gone.

Gijun was smiling.

Thump!

His heart beat again, strong and alive.

The crystal was already gone from view.

But he could feel it.

That crystal was now thrumming inside his heart.

And then.

‘What the hell is this…?’

Gijun was stunned.

Because he had just realized the true nature of the Ancient Heart now seated in his chest.

A heart infused with Mana.

Its name was the Mana Heart.

And he had just claimed it.

‘I never thought I’d be the one to hold a Mana Heart.’

Gijun let out a strange, wry laugh.

The Mana Heart definitely existed in reality too.

Though not for mages.

Real-world mages didn’t forge Mana Hearts.

The Mana Heart belonged to knights.

Because using magic required the friction of a Circle.

That was why mages built Circles in the first place.

Without that friction, a spell’s power plummeted.

Of course, that was irrelevant to Gijun.

A message appeared.

[You have acquired the Ancient Heart!]

[Ancient Heart]

– Completion: 1/10

– Magical Attack Power +100%

– MP Consumption -20%

– MP Recovery Rate +20%

– Casting Speed +20%

– Magic Power Stat Efficiency ×1.5

– +1 Magic Power per Level Up

– Magic-type Skill Proficiency Gain +30%

– Experience Gain +30%

‘What the hell is all this?’

Even seeing it with his own eyes, Gijun could barely believe it.

“Is this even allowed?”

How can the balance hold when it’s handing out stuff like this?

He simply couldn’t believe it.

Magic Attack Power, MP Consumption, Recovery Speed, Casting Speed.

Options he was already familiar with.

But the numbers themselves — they were jaw-dropping.

I’d be more than satisfied stopping right here.

And that wasn’t all.

Wait — one extra Mana per level-up?

That meant he’d be gaining a total of 3 Mana each time.

And what was this about a 1.5x boost to Magic Power stat efficiency?

It meant that when his Magic Power was at 10, the effect would be a full 15.

“Fucking hell… you kidding me?”

The curses practically escaped his lips on their own.

Even he found it absurd when he thought about it.

And the cherry on top —

Bonus Experience Gain, Bonus Proficiency Gain.

“I’m going crazy.”

This Ancient God business —

It wasn’t just empty talk after all.

Even if he dropped every remaining Quest and walked away with just this one item, it would more than make up for everything.

Not that he was planning to, of course.

Completeness… 1/10.

He wasn’t sure what that exactly meant.

But it meant there was room for improvement — maybe even a lot.

No — it meant he could definitely forge a Heart more complete than this one.

Thump!

The Heart beat again inside him.

“Ah…”

Before he knew it, Gijun realized he was back in the Forest of Prostra.

“Seriously…”

[Impressive, my master-to-be.]

Prostra and Libre stood with mouths agape, gasping in awe.

They could already sense it.

That Gijun had truly taken the Ancient Heart into himself.

And then —

[A text message has arrived from Branch Manager Cha Miyeong.]

The pod, synced with his smartphone, had a feature to alert him like this whenever a text or call came in.

Branch Manager?

*

Gijun sat up from the pod.

Now, after logging out of the game, his body wasn’t stiff at all.

In fact, it felt refreshed.

Even without any separate exercise, his body was in peak condition.

Stepping out of the pod, Gijun checked his smartphone.

Come to the guild by four o’clock?

He checked the time.

It was three in the afternoon.

One hour left.

An hour was plenty of time to get to the Southern Branch.

Let’s head out now.

Gijun stood up immediately.

*

Gijun arrived at the Hwarang Seoul Southern Branch building.

This was his second visit, but the feeling was fresh all over again.

After all, he was now coming to the guild as a genuine member of Hwarang.

The looks aimed at him were anything but ordinary.

Eyes filled with an anticipation he’d never felt before.

“Mr. Gijun.”

Then a voice called out.

It was Branch Manager Cha Miyeong’s voice.

As if she’d been waiting for him, she approached with a welcoming face.

“We meet again.”

“Good to see you, Branch Manager.”

“Yes. The reason I contacted you is that I have something urgent to discuss.”

“What… kind of?”

“Let’s talk inside first.”

“Ah, understood.”

And so Gijun followed Cha Miyeong toward her office.

A few moments later, a secretary brought in tea. After taking a sip, Miyeong spoke.

“This probably goes without saying, but from now on, you’ll be joining Hwarang’s Raids as a full-fledged Superhuman.”

“Right. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good. What I’m about to tell you is also Raid-related.”

A Raid.

At those words, Gijun’s face lit up.

They were already setting him up with a Raid.

This was a clear signal that Hwarang intended to push him forward.

‘Right — that was my condition, wasn’t it.’

The clause he’d underlined on that blank contract.

A guarantee of the Raid.

More than money or fame — that was what mattered most to Gijun now.

“First, you have options.”

With that, Miyeong handed Gijun a tablet.

On it were summaries of several Dungeons.

“Take a look and pick the one you want. The Guild Master was very clear: your choice comes first, no matter which Dungeon you select.”

“…Understood.”

This is truly the highest honor.

Gijun felt almost unworthy of it.

In any case, Gijun scanned the list of Dungeons.

This one’s a Level 3 Dungeon… high difficulty for its tier. And this one… Level 4…

They were all challenging Dungeons for someone at Gijun’s level.

But to him, they were satisfying options.

Then his eyes went wide.

“This is…”

“Ah.”

As Gijun opened the Dungeon listed on the last page, Miyeong’s eyes widened slightly.

“As I thought, that one catches your interest.”

“It seems so.”

“Well, that’s fine. It won’t be an easy choice, but your preference comes first.”

Saying that, Miyeong pressed a remote.

Snap!

A screen on the wall flickered to life.

[New Dungeon Briefing]

The screen read “New Dungeon Briefing.”

“A new Dungeon…?”

“Yes. A Level 4 Dungeon was discovered near Namtaeryeong Pass not long ago.”

“You mean a first-clear Raid.”

“Exactly.”

Gijun’s eyes widened.

Bringing me into a first-clear Dungeon.

This has to mean something significant.

Being the first to clear a Dungeon — that’s a sure way to leave your name behind.

Even if it’s only a Level 4 Dungeon, leaving your mark on it still counts for something, doesn’t it?

Plus, in a first-clear Dungeon, the Boss Monster always spawns at 100%.

It won’t drop Items like in a game, but it’s still a golden opportunity to make serious money.

“But there’s something else that matters more.”

Miyeong spoke then.

“What’s that?”

“For this first-clear Dungeon, the Ure Guild will also be dispatching Superhumans.”

“Ah…”

It’s custom for the strongest guild in a region to take first crack at a newly opened dungeon.

Charging into a dungeon blind means shouldering tremendous risk — that much is self-evident.

So the major guilds lead by example, bearing that burden first.

That’s not to say mid-tier guilds have no shot.

It’s just that they rarely gamble on those odds.

At any rate, back to Miyeong’s point.

This wasn’t merely a debut stage.

“Looks like we’ve got a competition brewing.”

“Yes. Ure’s likely to send out one of their rookies too. Ever since that article about Gijun ran a few days ago, they haven’t been feeling too comfortable over there.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Ure wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

“This is going to be a real gauntlet.”

Cha Miyeong nodded at his words.

“I hear the Superhuman Ure’s sending is a highly touted prospect too. They seem to be staking this dungeon as his debut stage.”

Her tone carried a hint of worry.

And he knew exactly why.

Hwarang had its own plans to groom Gijun as a rising star.

If Jun got shown up by Ure’s golden boy this early, the damage to Hwarang would be steep.

But Jun saw it differently — he saw opportunity.

A clash of prodigies.

The winner would get to pluck the sweetest fruit.

“What will you do?” she asked.

“I’ll give it a shot.”

Gijun said.

“No — I have to. It sounds fun.”

And he thought,

Soon. Soon the Ancient Armament would be his.

And if he pushed his growth to the absolute limit…

I can do this.

No matter that it was a Level 4 Dungeon — he could show results.

No. He was confident he could astonish everyone.

“I’ll report to the Guild Master right away.”

“Thank you.”

Gijun rose from his seat.

“Ah — when does the Gate open?” he asked.

“The Gate opens one week from today.”

Jun smiled.

A week. That was plenty of time.

Just how much stronger could he get in those seven days?

“Well, I’ll be off then.”

He hurried out.

But his destination wasn’t the training grounds.

Of course not.

What Jun needed wasn’t more drills.

Instead, he headed straight home.

Home — where he could log into Real Spirit.

One week. Let’s push like mad.

*

[So, my master. Do tell me how you feel. I am most curious to know.]

It’d been an hour already.

Libre had been pestering him nonstop to describe what it felt like holding the Ancient Heart.

“Ugh, I told you — I don’t know how to put it into words!”

But Gijun honestly had no way to articulate the sensation.

All he could say was that it felt good.

And that was the whole of it.

Good.

Insanely, deliriously good — and overflowing with power.

He felt like he could accomplish anything in the world.

[How unfair. Truly unfair. Ah, I envy you! I, who have yearned for the Ancient Heart my entire life — sob…!]

Gijun let out a quiet snicker, watching Libre flutter around him in a sulky orbit.

“Anyway, let’s hurry up and go.”

Gijun said.

The two of them were now moving out of the Forest of Prostra.

Gijun’s destination was the [Rotom Commercial District].

There was something he needed to do there.

“You sure about this?”

[Yeah. There’s definitely someone there who walks the same path as you.]

“Good.”

That was it.

The whole reason Gijun was heading to the Rotom Commercial District—a Seeker was there.

Which meant another Class Quest should pop up.

‘Maybe I’ll get a lead on the second Ancient Heart fragment there.’