Upon discovering Si-woo and Ah-rin’s disguise, the ghost shrieked, its cry thick with grief and sorrow.
[You are the reason why I’m dead! I should be the one shining the brightest! Why must I die? Why must I be the sacrificial lamb!?]
“Look, his eyes are flashing like laser beams.”
“Oh, come on! You’re just scared to shoot ’em, that’s all.”
Si-woo debated about trying to talk some sense into them at some point, but no matter what he did, they didn’t seem to have any intention of communicating at all. They only seemed interested in wailing their grief at the players in front of them. This was a different case compared to the other ghosts they’ve faced in the past.
[I must survive!]
“Is each ambassador like a gem?”
“Most of the original players have a sense of choice. But among them, some believed themselves to be of elite stature.”
“Ugh.”
The expressions on Si-Woo’s face indicated these words hurt him. He was one of those who thought himself to be the best in the world.
But Jung Si-woo was not at all entirely like the ghost. While he did see himself as a cut above the rest, he never denied the possibility of others being special like him. Meanwhile, the ghost was stuck in his belief that he was the only one unique in the world and that others ought to grovel by his feet.
Jung Si-woo could only laugh at the circumstance of the ghost who lived and died with evil in his heart and must now spend the rest of his afterlife in the dungeon with the same evil taking root in his heart.
[Human!]
[Let’s kill them! We’ll break this bondage and rejoin the outside world!]
The number of goblins that flocked around the ghost increased. But they seemed to be bound by some unseen force, preventing them from crossing the threshold that separated their room and where Si-woo and Ah-rin stood.
[Players abandoned me to die! I hate them! I’ll kill them all!]
[Kyaoohohohohoh!]
[Kug-ah-ah!]
The ghost screamed, its fury mounting even more. The goblins that surrounded him joined him in his misery, and together, they filled the room with their song of hate and revenge.
“Why would retired players return as ghosts in an ant cave dungeon?” Si-woo wondered.
“Perhaps if we prevent players from searching for dungeons in the sky castles, we could also prevent dead players from reappearing. If that happens, there will be no more ant cave dungeons, and monsters might not pop out dungeons after all.” Si-woo considered.
“No… That’s impossible.”
Clearing a dungeon is one way to earn money beyond one’s wildest dreams. It was a market that even the government could not touch. To walk inside a dungeon is to want more and more of the bounty that awaits deep within its caverns. Such was the insatiable desire of humans for wealth and power.
At this point, only Jung Si-Woo knew about the connection between the dead player and the monsters that spawned on Sanha-dong today. But, unfortunately, he could not think of a way to convince the people.
“I think we have to put him out of his misery now. Maybe then the boss room might open.” Si-woo urged.
“No, let’s leave him.” Ah-rin replied.
“But!” Si-woo exclaimed. He didn’t expect this to come from Ah-rin, especially after all that they had seen today.
Jung Si-Woo explained something to Soo Ah-rin before carefully pulling out his hammer to prepare for battle.
“This is the last time we’re doing this, right?” Si-woo asked.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“We don’t know whether these guys are in their final evolution or have merely undergone the Potara Fusion. For now, it’s best to observe them and wait for an opportunity. This way, we will be able to respond better to more difficult situations later.”
It was troubling to see goblins swarm around the ghost, confident that their contempt and their sheer number was enough to conquer anything that stood between them and their goal. But what was more troubling was Ah-rin’s apparent sympathy for them.
“Oh, I get it now.” Ah-rin interrupted, “It’s so obvious that we missed it at first! Do you want to know what they are trying to do?”
“What?” Si-woo asked.
“They’re responding to you that way because your personality is so easy to read like an open book.” Ah-rin explained.
It sounded plausible, but Jung Si-Woo was more interested in exchanging blows with an enemy strong enough to give a decent fight.
[Ahhhhhhhhh!]
A goblin screamed as the ghost swallowed it whole, his eyes turning a deeper shade of red. The ghost’s crimson gaze remained fixed on Si-woo. The changes that Si-woo both feared and hoped for began to take to place.
[The ghost has begun running amok. If you cannot stop the monster’s power before it fully awakens, you will face an even stronger enemy.]
“Nice!” Jung Si-Woo smiled as he read the strings of text that flashed in his eyes.
[Player, I will kill you!]
[Kgyaahahahah!]
[Kyahaahahah!]
The ghost began devouring the other goblins and used the others as shields. Jung Si-Woo felt a sense of indifference as he watched the goblins willingly forfeit their lives to the spirit without resistance.
The ghosts I have met so far had a clear hostile relationship with monsters, but this guy seems to be cooperating with goblins.’ Si-woo thought.
“Maybe, if the condition were a little worse, the ghost you met in the first dungeon, would not have attacked him with centipedes?” It was Jung Si-Woo who felt the need to clear the dungeon belonging to the ant den quickly.
[The ghost caused the first awakening as a demon who gained the power of a goblin! When the second awakening occurs, you can cross the dungeon’s border and invade the waiting room!]
‘In less than 5 minutes, how many goblins had he swallowed?’ Si-woo wondered.
The ghost’s body swelled like a balloon before bursting with a boom. A ghost of that was half-human, and half-goblin appeared from where the first ghost was. Its body was translucent but gave off a faint green color, resembling that of a goblin.
[Khaahahahahahah! Not enough, this is not enough! Ae-ae-ae!]
“Yes, it really lacks something.”
[Ahhhhh!]
Judging by the aura it exuded, this new ghost seemed to be at the same level as the centurion goblin Si-woo killed earlier with a single blow.
Si-woo sighed in disappointment at the sight of another weak monster that was barely worth his time. But the ghost took his resignation as a taunt and began rapidly consuming even more goblins to increase his strength. This also increased Soo Ah-rin’s headache.
Goblins flocked endlessly for another five minutes just to be devoured by the ceaseless hunger of the ghost.
For Jung Si-Woo, the dungeon was very wide. Theoretically, there should have been around a thousand goblins lurking in its shadow. And it seemed that the ghost swallowed up all of them to fuel its hunger for revenge.
[The ghost has triggered a second awakening as an evil demon!]
[Khaah!]
At the end of all that, the ghost succeeded in causing the second Gear’s awakening—the monster’s power now possessed a larger body with more magical powers. The horrifying elite monster glared at Jung Si-woo with its ethereal eyes.
Its awakening gave it the power to finally cross the room and attack Jung Si-woo despite the dungeon rules that were created to prevent such things.
[My waiting has come to an end, player! Time to die!]
The demon raised both its hand and manifested a giant fireball that floated in the air. After consuming countless goblins earlier, the ghost gained the power to utilize magic like goblins and fairies.
“Erai.”
[What!?]
“Are you kidding me! Even after eating all those goblins, this is the best you got?” Si-woo mocked. With his hammer, he struck the fireball at the center and let out a huge roar.
He realized that if you transferred mana to a weapon, you could wield magic.
The ghost turned demon was left speechless after witnessing Si-woo’s actions. Using his powers, the demon extinguished the fire that landed on his body when Si-woo destroyed his fireball. Seeing as how his powers were still far inferior, the demon turned around, his teeth clenched hard. Si-woo wanted to believe that those ethereal eyes did not hold tears, but that would be far from the truth.
[I will come back stronger!]
Soo Ah-rin sympathized a little with the demon. She understood the pain and misery the ghost had to endure and the bitter need for revenge that pushed him to become a demon in the end.
But Ah-rin still understood that despite the tragic story of the demon, they would still need to carry their objectives for everyone’s sake.
“Kill it quickly. We shouldn’t wait for a third awakening.” Ah-rin urged.
After eating all the goblins, the demon quickly rushed into the dungeon, looking for another elite demon to devour.
“He’s clearing the dungeon for me. This strategy might be pretty good.” Si-woo said.
Jung Si-Woo casually walked along the path the demon had gone through. Although Si-woo laughed at the demon and called him pathetic, he acknowledged that the power that the demon radiated after its second awakening surpassed that of the elite centipede’s at the centipede soldier’s den.
‘So, what if it achieves the third awakening? Wouldn’t it be a more fun to fight against a strong opponent? The battle that would ensue would definitely be more thrilling than the one against the giant centipede’ Si-woo thought.
An unpleasant sound rang throughout the dungeon. Something bad had been opened.
[Kuga ah!]
[You think I pretend to be hostile to people? I have eaten so many humans I’ve lost count. How dare you covet my strength! As the Goblin Warrior, I will punish you!]
“Uh, I think that’s the boss.” Si-woo said.
“You mean that ghost opened up the boss room!?”
Huge tremors swept the dungeon amidst the battle between the demon and the Goblin Dungeon Boss. It was evident that the boss possessed power incomparable to the other bosses and elite monsters they’ve faced so far. But Jing Si-woo remained calm and composed despite all of this.
“The demon will win. The third awakening will happen.” Ah-rin cried, her voice nearly trembling, “Hurry up, oppa!
Only then did Jung Si-woo start taking action. He sprinted smoothly across the dungeon. All the other lesser monsters have been eaten already by the demon, so they had nothing to worry about except the final boss.
[Kwaahahahahah! Death has come for you!]
The tremors ceased. Jung Si-Woo ran to see what has happened in the boss room only to find the Goblin Chief being devoured by the demon.
[Khwaahahahahah! I can win now! I can finally kill the player!]
“It awakened.” Si-woo sighed.
A demon that consumed the Goblin Chief and achieved the third awakening was now flying towards him at a blistering speed. Jung Si-Woo prepared, lifting his sledgehammer.
[Die!]
Even from a long distance, Si-woo could feel the temperature in the room go up. Within moments, dozens of fireballs broke through the walls of the dungeon. Jung Si-Woo smiled, sliding into the next room, avoiding them.
A wall of flames greeted Jung Si-Woo.
“Now!”
He struck the floor with his hammer as hard as he could. Countless stone shards sprang up, dispersing the flame wall completely. Jung Si-Woo rushed through the opening created by the stone fragments he sent.
There, the giant demon waited for him. Its body has grown into two and a half meter tall after its third awakening. The power it oozed after its last transformation was not something to be taken lightly.
[You can’t ignore me anymore!]
“Yes, thank you for growing up!”
Jung Si-Woo was sincerely happy, laughing, and swinging the hammer. The clash of steel between the demon’s ax and his sledgehammer filled the room with a metallic roar. This was a better fight than the last one Si-woo had.
“Soo Ah-rin, you step back! You might get hurt!” Si-woo warned.
[Kuhah ah!]
The impact of the demon’s ax against Jung Si-woo’s hammer sent him staggering back a little. The demon prepped for another attack, heat radiating from all over his body. Jung Si-Woo parried the heat attack and ax strike with the sledgehammer as hard as he could.
“This is like fireworks!” Si-woo said, almost excited.
Si-woo struck the demon on its chest using his shoulders! The attack was made more powerful by the mana he infused on his body.
“Oppa!” Ah-rin cried.
“I’m okay!” Si-woo reassured Ah-rin.
The flames’ power was too difficult to control, and it ended up scorching Jung Si-woo. But he didn’t care one bit. He merely shrugged it off as another challenge he had to endure. Meanwhile, Soo Ah-rin’s healing magic flew across the room and healed Si-woo’s wounds right away.
‘Come to think of it; this is the first time she has healed me.’ Si-woo thought, reflecting about the clutch moments Ah-rin came to his aid.
The demon, caught off guard by Si-woo’s actions despite the burns sustained, hurriedly stood up and tried to fight back. But Jung Si-Woo had already caught him unawares.
[Your lives are not a waste!]
“I don’t die that much. Maybe when I level up.”
Jung Si-Woo struck with his fist, his body still burning from the demon’s last fire attack.
Read latest Chapters at WuxiaWorld.Site Only[But, how?]
“I’m used to the pain.”
The demon, who did not know how much effort Jung Si-Woo had exerted to prove he was special and survive with his natural strength, now stared with blank eyes.
Of course, Jung Si-Woo didn’t care to explain it to him.
He just struck the hammer and broke its skull.
Upon discovering Si-woo and Ah-rin’s disguise, the ghost shrieked, its cry thick with grief and sorrow.
[You are the reason why I’m dead! I should be the one shining the brightest! Why must I die? Why must I be the sacrificial lamb!?]
“Look, his eyes are flashing like laser beams.”
“Oh, come on! You’re just scared to shoot ’em, that’s all.”
Si-woo debated about trying to talk some sense into them at some point, but no matter what he did, they didn’t seem to have any intention of communicating at all. They only seemed interested in wailing their grief at the players in front of them. This was a different case compared to the other ghosts they’ve faced in the past.
[I must survive!]
“Is each ambassador like a gem?”
“Most of the original players have a sense of choice. But among them, some believed themselves to be of elite stature.”
“Ugh.”
The expressions on Si-Woo’s face indicated these words hurt him. He was one of those who thought himself to be the best in the world.
But Jung Si-woo was not at all entirely like the ghost. While he did see himself as a cut above the rest, he never denied the possibility of others being special like him. Meanwhile, the ghost was stuck in his belief that he was the only one unique in the world and that others ought to grovel by his feet.
Jung Si-woo could only laugh at the circumstance of the ghost who lived and died with evil in his heart and must now spend the rest of his afterlife in the dungeon with the same evil taking root in his heart.
[Human!]
[Let’s kill them! We’ll break this bondage and rejoin the outside world!]
The number of goblins that flocked around the ghost increased. But they seemed to be bound by some unseen force, preventing them from crossing the threshold that separated their room and where Si-woo and Ah-rin stood.
[Players abandoned me to die! I hate them! I’ll kill them all!]
[Kyaoohohohohoh!]
[Kug-ah-ah!]
The ghost screamed, its fury mounting even more. The goblins that surrounded him joined him in his misery, and together, they filled the room with their song of hate and revenge.
“Why would retired players return as ghosts in an ant cave dungeon?” Si-woo wondered.
“Perhaps if we prevent players from searching for dungeons in the sky castles, we could also prevent dead players from reappearing. If that happens, there will be no more ant cave dungeons, and monsters might not pop out dungeons after all.” Si-woo considered.
“No… That’s impossible.”
Clearing a dungeon is one way to earn money beyond one’s wildest dreams. It was a market that even the government could not touch. To walk inside a dungeon is to want more and more of the bounty that awaits deep within its caverns. Such was the insatiable desire of humans for wealth and power.
At this point, only Jung Si-Woo knew about the connection between the dead player and the monsters that spawned on Sanha-dong today. But, unfortunately, he could not think of a way to convince the people.
“I think we have to put him out of his misery now. Maybe then the boss room might open.” Si-woo urged.
“No, let’s leave him.” Ah-rin replied.
“But!” Si-woo exclaimed. He didn’t expect this to come from Ah-rin, especially after all that they had seen today.
Jung Si-Woo explained something to Soo Ah-rin before carefully pulling out his hammer to prepare for battle.
“This is the last time we’re doing this, right?” Si-woo asked.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“We don’t know whether these guys are in their final evolution or have merely undergone the Potara Fusion. For now, it’s best to observe them and wait for an opportunity. This way, we will be able to respond better to more difficult situations later.”
It was troubling to see goblins swarm around the ghost, confident that their contempt and their sheer number was enough to conquer anything that stood between them and their goal. But what was more troubling was Ah-rin’s apparent sympathy for them.
“Oh, I get it now.” Ah-rin interrupted, “It’s so obvious that we missed it at first! Do you want to know what they are trying to do?”
“What?” Si-woo asked.
“They’re responding to you that way because your personality is so easy to read like an open book.” Ah-rin explained.
It sounded plausible, but Jung Si-Woo was more interested in exchanging blows with an enemy strong enough to give a decent fight.
[Ahhhhhhhhh!]
A goblin screamed as the ghost swallowed it whole, his eyes turning a deeper shade of red. The ghost’s crimson gaze remained fixed on Si-woo. The changes that Si-woo both feared and hoped for began to take to place.
[The ghost has begun running amok. If you cannot stop the monster’s power before it fully awakens, you will face an even stronger enemy.]
“Nice!” Jung Si-Woo smiled as he read the strings of text that flashed in his eyes.
[Player, I will kill you!]
[Kgyaahahahah!]
[Kyahaahahah!]
The ghost began devouring the other goblins and used the others as shields. Jung Si-Woo felt a sense of indifference as he watched the goblins willingly forfeit their lives to the spirit without resistance.
The ghosts I have met so far had a clear hostile relationship with monsters, but this guy seems to be cooperating with goblins.’ Si-woo thought.
“Maybe, if the condition were a little worse, the ghost you met in the first dungeon, would not have attacked him with centipedes?” It was Jung Si-Woo who felt the need to clear the dungeon belonging to the ant den quickly.
[The ghost caused the first awakening as a demon who gained the power of a goblin! When the second awakening occurs, you can cross the dungeon’s border and invade the waiting room!]
‘In less than 5 minutes, how many goblins had he swallowed?’ Si-woo wondered.
The ghost’s body swelled like a balloon before bursting with a boom. A ghost of that was half-human, and half-goblin appeared from where the first ghost was. Its body was translucent but gave off a faint green color, resembling that of a goblin.
[Khaahahahahahah! Not enough, this is not enough! Ae-ae-ae!]
“Yes, it really lacks something.”
[Ahhhhh!]
Judging by the aura it exuded, this new ghost seemed to be at the same level as the centurion goblin Si-woo killed earlier with a single blow.
Si-woo sighed in disappointment at the sight of another weak monster that was barely worth his time. But the ghost took his resignation as a taunt and began rapidly consuming even more goblins to increase his strength. This also increased Soo Ah-rin’s headache.
Goblins flocked endlessly for another five minutes just to be devoured by the ceaseless hunger of the ghost.
For Jung Si-Woo, the dungeon was very wide. Theoretically, there should have been around a thousand goblins lurking in its shadow. And it seemed that the ghost swallowed up all of them to fuel its hunger for revenge.
[The ghost has triggered a second awakening as an evil demon!]
[Khaah!]
At the end of all that, the ghost succeeded in causing the second Gear’s awakening—the monster’s power now possessed a larger body with more magical powers. The horrifying elite monster glared at Jung Si-woo with its ethereal eyes.
Its awakening gave it the power to finally cross the room and attack Jung Si-woo despite the dungeon rules that were created to prevent such things.
[My waiting has come to an end, player! Time to die!]
The demon raised both its hand and manifested a giant fireball that floated in the air. After consuming countless goblins earlier, the ghost gained the power to utilize magic like goblins and fairies.
“Erai.”
[What!?]
“Are you kidding me! Even after eating all those goblins, this is the best you got?” Si-woo mocked. With his hammer, he struck the fireball at the center and let out a huge roar.
He realized that if you transferred mana to a weapon, you could wield magic.
The ghost turned demon was left speechless after witnessing Si-woo’s actions. Using his powers, the demon extinguished the fire that landed on his body when Si-woo destroyed his fireball. Seeing as how his powers were still far inferior, the demon turned around, his teeth clenched hard. Si-woo wanted to believe that those ethereal eyes did not hold tears, but that would be far from the truth.
[I will come back stronger!]
Soo Ah-rin sympathized a little with the demon. She understood the pain and misery the ghost had to endure and the bitter need for revenge that pushed him to become a demon in the end.
But Ah-rin still understood that despite the tragic story of the demon, they would still need to carry their objectives for everyone’s sake.
“Kill it quickly. We shouldn’t wait for a third awakening.” Ah-rin urged.
After eating all the goblins, the demon quickly rushed into the dungeon, looking for another elite demon to devour.
“He’s clearing the dungeon for me. This strategy might be pretty good.” Si-woo said.
Jung Si-Woo casually walked along the path the demon had gone through. Although Si-woo laughed at the demon and called him pathetic, he acknowledged that the power that the demon radiated after its second awakening surpassed that of the elite centipede’s at the centipede soldier’s den.
‘So, what if it achieves the third awakening? Wouldn’t it be a more fun to fight against a strong opponent? The battle that would ensue would definitely be more thrilling than the one against the giant centipede’ Si-woo thought.
An unpleasant sound rang throughout the dungeon. Something bad had been opened.
[Kuga ah!]
[You think I pretend to be hostile to people? I have eaten so many humans I’ve lost count. How dare you covet my strength! As the Goblin Warrior, I will punish you!]
“Uh, I think that’s the boss.” Si-woo said.
“You mean that ghost opened up the boss room!?”
Huge tremors swept the dungeon amidst the battle between the demon and the Goblin Dungeon Boss. It was evident that the boss possessed power incomparable to the other bosses and elite monsters they’ve faced so far. But Jing Si-woo remained calm and composed despite all of this.
“The demon will win. The third awakening will happen.” Ah-rin cried, her voice nearly trembling, “Hurry up, oppa!
Only then did Jung Si-woo start taking action. He sprinted smoothly across the dungeon. All the other lesser monsters have been eaten already by the demon, so they had nothing to worry about except the final boss.
[Kwaahahahahah! Death has come for you!]
The tremors ceased. Jung Si-Woo ran to see what has happened in the boss room only to find the Goblin Chief being devoured by the demon.
[Khwaahahahahah! I can win now! I can finally kill the player!]
“It awakened.” Si-woo sighed.
A demon that consumed the Goblin Chief and achieved the third awakening was now flying towards him at a blistering speed. Jung Si-Woo prepared, lifting his sledgehammer.
[Die!]
Even from a long distance, Si-woo could feel the temperature in the room go up. Within moments, dozens of fireballs broke through the walls of the dungeon. Jung Si-Woo smiled, sliding into the next room, avoiding them.
A wall of flames greeted Jung Si-Woo.
“Now!”
He struck the floor with his hammer as hard as he could. Countless stone shards sprang up, dispersing the flame wall completely. Jung Si-Woo rushed through the opening created by the stone fragments he sent.
There, the giant demon waited for him. Its body has grown into two and a half meter tall after its third awakening. The power it oozed after its last transformation was not something to be taken lightly.
[You can’t ignore me anymore!]
“Yes, thank you for growing up!”
Jung Si-Woo was sincerely happy, laughing, and swinging the hammer. The clash of steel between the demon’s ax and his sledgehammer filled the room with a metallic roar. This was a better fight than the last one Si-woo had.
“Soo Ah-rin, you step back! You might get hurt!” Si-woo warned.
[Kuhah ah!]
The impact of the demon’s ax against Jung Si-woo’s hammer sent him staggering back a little. The demon prepped for another attack, heat radiating from all over his body. Jung Si-Woo parried the heat attack and ax strike with the sledgehammer as hard as he could.
“This is like fireworks!” Si-woo said, almost excited.
Si-woo struck the demon on its chest using his shoulders! The attack was made more powerful by the mana he infused on his body.
“Oppa!” Ah-rin cried.
“I’m okay!” Si-woo reassured Ah-rin.
The flames’ power was too difficult to control, and it ended up scorching Jung Si-woo. But he didn’t care one bit. He merely shrugged it off as another challenge he had to endure. Meanwhile, Soo Ah-rin’s healing magic flew across the room and healed Si-woo’s wounds right away.
‘Come to think of it; this is the first time she has healed me.’ Si-woo thought, reflecting about the clutch moments Ah-rin came to his aid.
The demon, caught off guard by Si-woo’s actions despite the burns sustained, hurriedly stood up and tried to fight back. But Jung Si-Woo had already caught him unawares.
[Your lives are not a waste!]
“I don’t die that much. Maybe when I level up.”
Jung Si-Woo struck with his fist, his body still burning from the demon’s last fire attack.
Read latest Chapters at WuxiaWorld.Site Only[But, how?]
“I’m used to the pain.”
The demon, who did not know how much effort Jung Si-Woo had exerted to prove he was special and survive with his natural strength, now stared with blank eyes.
Of course, Jung Si-Woo didn’t care to explain it to him.
He just struck the hammer and broke its skull.
