Chapter 45

Munch (General), Kiki (General), Dangdalhi (General)… Flash!

Naparam (Advanced)!

Chingchingi (General), Chingchingi (General), Munch (General), Dangdalhi (General). I poured all my daily wages from the club and broadcasting station into the pet draw. Of course, the results were terrible. They were all general with very rare ones occasionally appearing.

Cococo (General), Choco (General), Dangdalhi (General)… Flash!

Red Grizzly Bear (Rare)! However, as always, if you keep trying then eventually there will be results.

Flash! The smiling face of the colossus statue disappeared amidst the bursting light.

‘As always, why does the goddess look serious when something good happens?’

Regardless of my dismay, the Summoning Stone on the ground shone brightly.

Gugug…!

When I touched it, the Summoning Stone broke to reveal a giant hawk with a saddle on its back.

-There is a rumor of a fast and intelligent spirit that only carries royalty across the skies for the Crystal Alliance.

[Large Hawk ‘Sky’ (Hero)]

“Good!”

In Revenge, there were various types of mountable pets available. The most common ones included horses, cows, ostriches, alpacas, etc., while rare pets possessed combat abilities like wolves, rhinos, raptors, etc. Once a pet reached Hero rank, some mounts gained additional functionality - namely, flight ability. It was the emergence of flying vehicles.

“Phew. Fortunately, my first hero is a bird.”

Unlike other Players who had no choice but to rely on synthesis, I could distribute classes or pets among my subordinates, so I didn’t need to synthesize them. In other words, if I wanted to obtain a Hero-ranked pet, it had to come directly from a single draw!

‘The probability of obtaining a Hero is only 0.1%.’

I was worried about how much money I would have to spend but fortunately, it was resolved for less than 4.5 million won. If it hadn’t come out this time, I would’ve had to wait until my next part-time job or worst case scenario, until the next payday. It was truly fortunate that didn’t happen.

However, as I was relieved, text appeared before my eyes:

[A guild’s level has increased from 1 → 2!]

[The maximum number of members in a guild has increased from 100 → 150.]

[The following functions will be unlocked.]

[Guild Attendance, Guild Buff (Experience Points +1%)]

[Guild Shop (Advanced Potions)]

“Ah, finally leveled up.”

Using the castle management option window, I changed the name of the castle to ‘Starting’. It meant both the first castle I occupied and paid homage to the starting point in games.

‘No one will recognize it though.’

In any case, with Starting Point as a safe zone, the experience and item collection rate for elite soldiers increased dramatically. This was because Favor of the Goddess naturally accumulated while resting in the city. Of course, the Favor could only reach Stage 2, which is 200 points, but it couldn’t be compared to the time when there was no Favor at all. By consuming the accumulated Favor during dungeon hunting, guild experience points were obtained. It took longer than I thought, but raising the guild level was certain now.

[Ping!]

I checked the guild benefits tab to confirm the features activated when the guild level increased.

‘The regular guild raids… Guild Level 6. Since guild members have started earning significant experience, this should happen relatively soon.’

The guild benefits weren’t just one or two things. In particular, for players like me who didn’t spend any money on Ardenia, the guild shop was akin to an oasis in the desert. The attendance feature allowed us to receive honor coins simply by maintaining our guild membership status, but that wasn’t the only benefit.

The real advantage lay within the guild shop itself.

‘Honor Tokens. So, it’s a place where I can use these coins.’

Coins could also be obtained through achievements. Whenever a player killed a certain number of monsters, acquired a specific amount of gold, leveled up, or defeated boss monsters, they received honor coins as achievement rewards. Until now, there was no way to utilize those honor coins, but now we had a purpose for them.

‘And there’s quite an extensive list of items available.’

Currently, it only included potions, but as the guild level increased, various products would be added. Consumables like enforcement or teleportation scrolls were worth mentioning too.

‘Skill Books! And Class Summoning Rights!’

When the guild reached level 6, nine rare-grade skill books and weekly general guild raids on Sundays became available. At level 7, Class Summoning Rights were unlocked, followed by Pet Summoning Rights at level 8.

This meant that players could acquire summoning rights even without my involvement! With the cost for purchasing Class Summoning Rights skyrocketing due to the increasing number of soldiers, this information was a ray of hope amidst the chaos.

“Wait… Wait just a moment.” I was startled by something unexpected in the additional listings.

“At level 13, there is an additional Hero Active Skill Book? Even more…at level 15, there is a Hero Passive Skill Book.”

There was such a skill unlocked at level 15:

[Drain (Hero) (Passive)]

With solid stamina as its foundation, it overwhelms opponents and absorbs some of the damage as stamina.

“Absorption.”

Moreover, it absorbed stamina rather than health. This provided a platform to fight like crazy. Surprised, I searched on the official website.

At this time, there was a pertinent question:

[Question] Is Drain available for purchase from the Guild Shop?

1.5 million honour coins… Can I buy it with my current balance of 100,000? Ah, it seems too perfect for my job but how can I gather enough? Maybe if I give up buying one class summon right per day…

L Personally, I think leveling up your guild to level 15 is more problematic than having only 100,000 coins. LOL It takes two years to get Revenge Guild to level 15 LOLL Of course, it won’t be a problem if you instantly join a top-tier guild LOLLLL

L But joining a top-tier guild requires an interview LOLLLL You’ll have to meet them in person LOLLLL And they conduct interviews at their office LOLLLL This isn’t even a job interview; why should I go through this for a game LOLLL

L Based on my experience, reaching Guild Level 13 takes about a year, and Guild Level 15 takes around two years. However, if all guild members contribute 2,700 diamonds regularly and focus solely on hunting full guardians, we might achieve Level 15 within two months.

(It’s estimated that spending 10-20 million won per point could potentially reach Guild Level 15, but keep in mind, these are just predictions.)

L Honestly, obtaining coins seems manageable…but leveling up the guild appears impossible…

LIs it because you’re just out of reach for me? L

“Oh, damn.” His hopes were dashed as quickly as they’d risen. Leveling up his guild seemed much harder than he imagined.

“What do you mean, ‘spend one to two million won per member’?! Are you kidding me? All my guild members play for free!” He grumbled and closed the guild window.

“Phew, better not dwell on that too much or I’ll get upset. Let’s check my stats instead.”

He shot toward the ceiling and began running between rooftops, taking stock of his territory.

His first stop was at the training grounds located north of the castle.

“One.”

“Hup!”

“One.”

“Hup!”

The swordsman was seen drilling about five hundred soldiers. As he barked sharp commands, blue wisps swirled around him.

‘His aura has awakened.’

The swordsman was a cleric who had trained Heavenly Dragon Sword Art for more than 10 years, but he couldn’t use it due to lack of talent. Now that he fully mastered the Heavenly Dragon Sword Art and gained a class with increased stats, awakening his aura was a natural occurrence.

I moved again towards a large mansion located northeast.

“Concentrate! Don’t stop circulating your energy! If you can’t complete one cycle, the results will be worse!”

Hundred was training around 30 elite soldiers. Currently, they were on guard duty, but Stonestone was also training a similar number of elite soldiers. Then I stepped towards one of the buildings located in the east side of the city.

Inside, Smile was teaching relatively young students.

“The concentration of magic power is most important. Everyone! Ah, you stupid fools! You need to practice more! Please hurry up… Oh! Note! You succeeded! Wow! Everybody give three rounds of applause! Note, I will promote you from a stupid fool to just a fool.”

I didn’t know because he always seemed cheerful but Smile could be quite venomous. The students were sweating profusely as they practiced circling movements.

‘Well, at least he is teaching well.’

I passed on the Kyujin Gong (Fast Advancement) method to Stonestone and Hundred, while giving Smile the Fast Three School’s Circling technique. There were similarities between these two training methods.

‘Instant.’

Raising martial arts to higher levels was a painful task. Not only did you have to memorize formulas but also train your body.

‘In fact, just doing this is difficult.’

Losing weight. Anyone can make that resolution, but what if they need to lose around 50 kilograms? Unless one has exceptional vitality, how many people in the world could actually achieve it? A person who sets goals, overcomes various temptations, and achieves them cannot be considered ‘ordinary’.

What about raising the level of martial arts mastery? Training psychic energy leads towards transcendence. Being born as a human and transcending humanity - the process of becoming something divine is precisely the elevation of martial arts realms.

To advance one’s martial arts proficiency, you must practice relentlessly while others sleep and engage in life-threatening battles instead of hanging out with friends. Instead of playing games or watching TV, endless exploration and study of martial techniques become mandatory. It is harder than losing fifty kilograms for someone weighing only one hundred kilograms. Without unwavering determination, it would be challenging to even aim for expertise, let alone mastery.

Only those obsessed with self-improvement can reach high levels of ability.

But most people simply can’t do that.

The average person screams at merely stubbing their toe.

These weaklings couldn’t even concentrate on studying for ten hours a day or endure working over one hundred hours per week without breaking down mentally and physically. As such, renowned scholars and superhumans conducted extensive research to develop psychic abilities tailored specifically for them: Instant Abilities.

Instant Abilities, like Swift Progression and Fast Three, were akin to the pinnacle of evil cultivation techniques in martial arts lore. Upon mastering Swift Progression, one’s Inner Force would rapidly increase with tremendous momentum, quickly familiarizing oneself with its utilization. The growth rate achieved through Swift Progression surpassed any other advanced martial technique.

Even a novice elementary school student could become a second-rate warrior, known as an aura user, within just two years. Moreover, they’d be among the higher-tier beginners, nearing the level of an aura expert!

‘However…that’s where it ends.’

A trainee using Instant would forever be stuck as a second-class practitioner. It was inherent to this type of martial art. Instant allowed ordinary people with little talent or time to still utilize certain superhuman abilities to some extent.

Similarly, Fast Three enabled rapid growth up to class three but halted any further progress once the mana circle stabilized at that level.

Many mages who had no intention of advancing beyond their current realm often practiced Fast Three. Most mage factory workers were trained in the Fast Three discipline.

That’s why I was surprised when Sehan reached class four. A fourth-class mage walked a completely different path from a third-class mage.

As an aside, even a 5th-class mage is fundamentally different from others. It means they have overcome ‘the wall’ that most mages fail to surmount.

‘Even with Instant Magic, it takes several months to properly master them.’

In other words, now was not the time to raise an army but rather strengthen my foundation. Once the average level of my soldiers surpassed 30, equipped with advanced gear and skills, and gained proficiency in manipulating mana, I would possess an unparalleled force unseen anywhere else in this world.

So then…

“Is now the right moment…?” Nodding, I returned to the castle while pondering.

‘I must seize this opportunity to clear all the dungeons on the outskirts.’

With Sky, the large hawk, available, achieving this seemed entirely feasible.