Level Up Machine

Chapter 28 Another Jackpot (1)

Time passed quickly.

After reaching level 15 by hunting Lizardmen, Yeong-sik and his party immediately moved to the next hunting ground.

The next monsters they hunted after the Lizardmen were monsters named Rakan.

Rakan were monsters that had a similar appearance to werewolves. However, while werewolves existed on the boundary between humans and monsters, Rakan were pure monsters.

With long claws, incredible agility, and the intelligence to hunt in packs, Rakans were much more challenging to face than the Lizardmen.

However, Yeong-sik and his party, who had perfectly synchronized their teamwork while fighting the Lizardmen, steadily hunted the Rakans and leveled up.

Since the Rakans inhabited deep within the forest, Yeong-sik and his party couldn’t hunt them in a single day as they had before. Instead, they camped for two to three days while continuing their hunt.

Camping in the forest was never an easy task, but thanks to this effort, Yeong-sik and his party’s levels increased at a very rapid pace.

*Grrrr!*

A wolf-like monster with gray fur, a Rakan, growled menacingly.

Yeong-sik and his party sharply watched the seven Rakans surrounding them.

At first, they had difficulty handling even three Rakans, but after surpassing level 25, they had gained enough power to handle this number of Rakans with ease.

“Ice Cloud.”

As always, the battle began with Ara’s magic.

To slow down the swift-moving Rakans, Ara used a debuff spell rather than an attack spell. A white cloud, imbued with cold, spread out from her and enveloped the surroundings.

The Rakans surrounding Yeong-sik’s party shivered as the intense cold made their skin tingle.

*Grrrr!*

The leader of the Rakans let out a fierce roar from its mouth.

The Rakans surrounding Yeong-sik’s party started charging towards them.

Gil-soo stepped forward, holding a kite shield that covered his entire upper body.

“Taunt!”

Gil-soo stomped his foot roughly and shouted in a threatening voice. Blue light emanated from his body, spreading in all directions. The Rakans’ gazes focused on Gil-soo as the light touched them.

“Defense Aura!”

Confirming that the Rakans’ attention was on him, Gil-soo strengthened his grip on his shield and used a defense-boosting skill. A translucent aura emanated from his body, making him appear even more formidable.

*Roar!*

The Rakans, who had been moving on all fours, stood up and charged at Gil-soo.

Rakans typically moved on all fours, but in battle, they fought on two legs, using their long claws to tear their enemies apart.

*Clang! Clang!*

“Ugh!”

Gil-soo blocked the Rakan attacks coming from all sides with his shield, swallowing a short grunt.

While Gil-soo distracted the Rakans, Ara’s magic was completed.

“Ice Boom!”

The ice sphere that fell among the Rakans was much larger than the one used when they hunted Lizardmen.

Tiny ice pellets swept over the Rakans.

*Grrrr!*

Some of the Rakans’ aggro shifted towards Ara. Two Rakans turned their bodies and charged towards her.

Yeong-sik stepped in front of Ara to block them.

“Blade.”

*Click!*

A sharp blade emerged from the back of Yeong-sik’s left hand. The Rakans, paying no attention to Yeong-sik, continued to charge at Ara.

Yeong-sik bent his body slightly and stomped the ground hard.

‘Boost.’

A faint light shrouded his foot as he pushed off the ground. His body accelerated momentarily, shooting forward like an arrow. In that state, he twisted his body and swung his blade, aiming for the Rakan’s neck.

The accelerated blade easily sliced through the Rakan’s tough skin and pierced its neck. The Rakan screamed in pain and tried to grab Yeong-sik’s blade with both hands.

Before the Rakan could grab his blade, Yeong-sik twisted his body again and swung the blade at the remaining Rakan.

*Clang!*

*Grrrr!*

The Rakan, seeing its comrade’s neck pierced, blocked Yeong-sik’s blade with its long claws.

As soon as the blade was blocked, Yeong-sik lifted his right foot. His foot, clad in hiking boots, struck precisely between the Rakan’s legs.

*Thud!*

*Screech!*

The Rakan, having a body structure similar to humans, crouched in agony from the unimaginable pain between its legs.

Yeong-sik then thrust his blade into the forehead of the crouching Rakan.

*Thud!*

“Ara! Help!”

While Yeong-sik was dealing with the two Rakans, a desperate voice came from Gil-soo, who was holding off the remaining five Rakans.

Due to the unexpected strength of the leader, Gil-soo was staggering, looking like he might collapse at any moment.

“Just wait a moment!”

Ara shouted back to Gil-soo, then closed her eyes and focused on casting her spell. Blue magical energy emanated from her body and gathered in the air.

“Triple Ice Arrow!”

At her command, twelve ice arrows appeared in the air simultaneously. It was the Ice Arrow spell cast three times at once, creating four arrows each time.

The twelve ice arrows targeted the Rakans and shot forward.

*Thud! Thud!*

*Screech!*

*Grrrr!*

The ice arrows she created pierced through the Rakans’ tough skin. Two Rakans were hit in vital spots and fell dead on the spot.

With two Rakans dead, Gil-soo found it easier to hold his ground. He thrust his shield forward and shouted.

“Counter!”

*Boom!*

*Grrrr!*

A faint blue light flickered on his shield as the counter skill activated. The leader Rakan staggered backward, letting out a desperate growl.

Gil-soo swung his axe upward, using a smash skill.

*Clang!*

The leader Rakan raised its claws to block Gil-soo’s attack.

However, it couldn’t fully defend against the blow, causing the leader Rakan to stagger heavily.

Seizing the opportunity, Yeong-sik sprinted towards the exposed leader Rakan.

*Whoosh!*

Heat waves rose from Yeong-sik’s back.

As Yeong-sik ran at full speed, his body accelerated, propelling him forward with explosive momentum. He pulled his left arm back and then twisted his entire body to thrust it forward.

*Thud!*

*Roar!*

The accelerated blade tore through the Rakan’s chest. The leader Rakan let out a roar of agony.

Yeong-sik tried to swing the blade lodged in the Rakan’s chest to the side.

However, the Rakan’s skin was as hard as stone, preventing the blade from moving.

“Boost.”

Yeong-sik’s voice came out in a low whisper.

A faint flame ignited at his elbow. With the boost’s power, his arm jerked to the side.

*Slash!*

*Roar!*

The leader Rakan’s body was ripped apart by the blade. Dark red blood spurted out like a fountain.

Seeing their leader dead, the remaining Rakans turned and fled without looking back.

Yeong-sik and his party did not bother to chase after the fleeing Rakans. Given the Rakans’ nature of heavily relying on their leader, the chances of them attacking again were slim.

*Ding.*

[You have slain 4 Rakans.]

[1274 experience points and 60 silver have been distributed according to contribution.]

“It seems you’ve gotten used to hunting Rakans.”

Bae Han-seong, who had been watching their fight from hiding, clapped his hands and walked out.

Yeong-sik nodded and responded to his remark.

“As our levels increased, it became much more manageable compared to the beginning.”

“Haha. You all are growing so quickly, it makes me proud.”

Bae Han-seong said with a warm smile.

Yeong-sik, looking as if he remembered something, asked him a question.

“But how many levels can we gain by hunting Rakans?”

“If you push to the limit, you can reach level 35. However, leveling up becomes very slow at that point. I think it’s best to move to the next hunting ground once you hit level 30.”

“Hmm… If it’s level 30, we have three more levels to go.”

Yeong-sik nodded as if he understood.

The experience points from the Rakans, which had been surprisingly high at first, had significantly decreased, and he was starting to get tired of hunting the same monsters.

‘Hunting the next monsters is a bit worrisome.’

Yeong-sik furrowed his brows lightly as he thought this.

Even while fighting the leader Rakan, he realized his attack power was too weak since he lacked any special combat skills. Although he could somewhat compensate for his weak attack power by using Boost, it wasn’t a fundamental solution.

‘It would be nice if a weapon with higher attack power appeared.’

Yeong-sik looked down at the blade emerging from the back of his left hand with a regretful expression.

However, to obtain a new weapon, he needed to level up his Structural Analysis skill, which wasn’t easy. The skill could only be used on machines he created.

For the past three weeks, he had been using the money earned from hunting to buy iron ore and practice his Manufacturing skill, but it had only increased by one level. He had tried using Structural Analysis on the machines made with his level 2 Manufacturing skill multiple times, but his level did not increase.

Ideally, he wanted to buy iron ore in bulk and focus on leveling both his Manufacturing and Structural Analysis skills, but the price of iron ore was prohibitive.

‘If only I could get a Black Cube.’

Yeong-sik thought of the Black Cube with a regretful expression.

Previously, he had leveled up his Structural Analysis skill by using it on the Black Cube obtained from Luderec’s corpse. He had hoped to buy Black Cubes at a cheap price since they were useless to others, but that plan failed.

Because the Black Cubes were considered worthless, they were rarely available for sale. Moreover, since boss monsters were not common, it was impossible for Yeong-sik to obtain one himself.

‘…I just need to earn some money first.’

Yeong-sik thought that the only solution for now was to save money and steadily buy iron ore.

Just then,

*Rustle.*

“Hmm?”

Yeong-sik heard the sound of something moving in the bushes. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who heard it, as the other party members also stopped resting and stood up.

“Is that…?”

“A Red-Mane Rakan. It’s an elite monster.”

What appeared from the bushes was a Rakan with a red mane. Unlike the other Rakans, this one was moving alone.

Seeing it, Bae Han-seong’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

“The red mane of a Rakan sells for 5 gold each. Let’s catch it.”

Bae Han-seong, who was in charge of the guild’s finances, spoke decisively as if there was no need for further thought.

The prospect of earning 5 gold made Yeong-sik’s eyes light up. Money was one of the things he needed most at the moment.

“Growl… Woof!”

The red-maned Rakan, having spotted Yeong-sik and his group, glared at them warily before turning around and starting to run away.

Yeong-sik’s group, not expecting him to flee, wore expressions of surprise.

“Chase him!”

Yeong-sik shouted as he ran forward.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch as the hefty sum of 5 gold slipped away before his eyes.

Thus began an unexpected chase. Yeong-sik used his boost to pursue the red-maned Rakan.

Slash!

Yeong-sik pushed through the bushes that Rakan had passed, running ahead. He got close enough to almost touch the red-maned Rakan. The red-maned Rakan let out a screech and, with a desperate look, fled into a cave beyond the bushes.

Without hesitation, Yeong-sik followed Rakan into the cave.

Ding.

[You have discovered the dungeon, ‘Abandoned Mine’.]

[For one week, experience points are increased by 1.5 times, gold acquisition is increased by 1.5 times, and the drop rate of rare items is doubled.]

“Huh…?”

Yeong-sik looked at the sudden message window in front of his eyes, wearing a puzzled expression.