Skillbook My Way - Episode 006
Chapter 6
The monster took the form of a deer.
Two massive horns, slender legs.
What set it apart from ordinary deer was that the tips of its horns were sharp like spears, its fur was entirely gray, and its eyes emitted a red light.
I approached from behind so as not to enter the Spearhorn Deer's field of vision.
'If it spots me, I'll lose it……'
As I crawled at an extremely slow speed, I saw the Spearhorn Deer bend its legs and sit down.
'Now's my chance!'
Tap.
I immediately stood up and ran toward the deer. The deer noticed and tried to rise.
'Smash!'
Crack!
By a hair's breadth, the club struck down on the body of the deer that was trying to flee. Through the hand gripping the club, I felt the sensation of the deer's bones breaking.
[Acquired 5 EXP.]
'At 5 points, that's 2.5 times a Skeleton Poison. Not bad.'
One 3-Word skill was equivalent to twenty Spearhorn Deer.
I hurriedly retrieved the horns from the deer's corpse. Since I had used half the money Hyeongcheol gave me for the entrance fee, gathering materials was essential.
I put the horns in my bag and left to find the next monster.
There were two kinds of dungeon names.
One was the official designation you could know upon entering the dungeon.
The naming method was very simple. For example, the first dungeon to appear in Yongsan was 'Seoul Yongsan Dungeon No. 1', and the next one to appear was 'Seoul Yongsan Dungeon No. 2', and so on.
Another name was the nickname given by Hunters.
Hunters named dungeons based on characteristics such as the types of monsters that appeared, the dungeon's shape, or the number of floors.
These names were much easier to remember than the official designations, and they were used more commonly.
The official name of the dungeon I was in was Seoul Yeongdeungpo Dungeon No. 8. Its nickname was 'Forest Hunting Ground'.
Tadadak.
'Damn it!'
Seeing the rabbit-shaped monster disappear from sight in an instant was irritating.
True to its nickname "Hunting Ground," this dungeon was full of monsters shaped like animals—deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, and so on.
The monsters on the first floor of this dungeon mostly busied themselves with running away when they met Hunters.
Thanks to that, the risk of being ambushed by monsters was low, but conversely, catching them was no ordinary difficulty.
The monsters here were all quick-witted and swift in their movements.
'If only I had a ranged attack or a movement skill, I could catch them before they noticed.'
But for now, all I had was the Smash skill, which had to be used in close proximity.
I summoned the book.
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-Status-
Ihwajin
HP: 100/100 MP: 22/30
Vitality: 5 Strength: 3 Magic: 3
Mental Strength: 4 Sense: 3
Unique Skill: [Edit Lv.1]
Exp: 363
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The monsters I had caught during the roughly one hour since entering the dungeon were just three in total: one Spearhorn Deer I caught at the start, and two Bigfoot Rabbits grazing on grass.
'Too slow.'
There was a limit to the method of carefully approaching slowly without being detected.
'This won't do. I'll make one.'
Recalling the appearances of the monsters I had missed so far, I decided to no longer save points and create a new skill.
First, I turned the pages and examined the Word list. Then I opened an empty page.
[Would you like to edit a skill?]
As I answered yes in my mind, a quill pen appeared like last time. I took the pen and wrote the Words on the page.
The skill I wanted to create was one that let me approach monsters before they ran away.
I didn't have any other Words to put in anyway, and I remembered the explanation that Modifier Words could be duplicated, so I wanted to test it with this opportunity.
The words began to emit light and mix together. I prayed that a skill with the feeling I wanted would come out.
[Skill creation failed.]
But my expectations were utterly shattered.
"Failed? Why!"
[No Tool is included in the Words. To create a skill, at least one Tool and one Action Word are required.]
'Right. It told me that at the beginning…….'
My desire to find out what happens when duplicating Modifier Words seems to have gotten ahead of me.
I calmed down for now and checked my Status.
'Thank goodness. It's the same.'
It seemed EXP was not consumed if the skill was not created despite attempting to write one.
'So ultimately, using multiple Modifier Words is only possible starting from 6-Word Skills.'
Holding the quill pen, I once again wrote Words down on the empty page.
The words emitted light, mixed, and shortly after—
[Consuming a total of 100 EXP.]
[Skill created.]
Along with the familiar voice, a new skill appeared on the page.
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Created Skill: [Charge](Normal)
Tool Used: None
Mana Consumption: 1pt
Description: Designates an opponent and runs quickly in a straight line. Can be immediately linked with other skills, and if the skill is not canceled, you will collide as-is and can use it for attacking.
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'Charge.'
It was a skill name to my liking.
I decided to test the skill immediately.
'It said I have to designate an opponent.'
Not long after carefully advancing while surveying my surroundings, I discovered a Bigfoot Rabbit.
Looking at the monster far in the distance, I shouted inwardly.
'Charge!'
Then, as a small amount of mana drained, my body lurched sharply forward.
As acceleration took hold, the surrounding grass and trees became lines disappearing behind me. It was a speed my legs could not produce. It felt as if I were riding in a car.
Moreover, even while moving this fast, my legs didn't hurt and I wasn't out of breath.
The Bigfoot Rabbit noticed my movement only after I had already reached right in front of it.
Boom!
Without canceling Charge, my foot automatically kicked the Bigfoot Rabbit hard.
The monster that flew up fell straight to the ground, producing a dull thud.
[Acquired 3 EXP.]
Rustle.
Hearing the sound of something moving, I looked to see a Spearhorn Deer fleeing from the commotion just now.
'Charge!'
The distance to the deer, which would be impossible to catch on human feet once it started running, closed in an instant.
I gripped the club with both hands.
'Smash!'
My body stopped without any inertia or impact, and then the Smash skill activated.
Crack!
[Acquired 5 EXP.]
That did it.
At this rate, I could quickly recover the 100 EXP used to create the skill just now.
I stopped walking carefully to avoid being noticed by monsters and began to stride.
The grass up ahead shook and a Bigfoot Rabbit jumped out and started fleeing.
'Charge!'
I charged toward the Bigfoot Rabbit.
'With this skill, I can catch almost all the monsters on the first floor!'
After about 30 minutes had passed, I sank down onto the ground.
Smash and Charge consumed small amounts of mana. Even if the consumption was not burdensome, using them constantly without rest would eventually deplete it.
When my MP ran out, I repeated hunting while waiting for it to recover, but the recovery was gradually slowing.
Looking around, I saw monster corpses strewn about here and there.
I had gone around every corner of the Forest Hunting Ground's first floor without omission and caught every monster in sight.
I summoned the book and checked my Status.
As a result of hunting without rest, I had recovered the EXP spent creating the Charge skill and earned about 50 points more.
'But it's still far from enough.'
What I had to face was an S-Rank Hunter and roughly 50 Hunters under them. With only Charge and Smash, I could never win.
'But why do I have 0 [Attribute] Words?'
Unlike [Tool], [Action], and [Modifier], no Words were registered yet under [Attribute].
As I was worrying, I thought of a good method.
'Surely, on the bus, it reacted to my question about EXP consumption.'
I opened the book and inwardly begged it to tell me the acquisition conditions for Attribute Words.
It seemed my guess was correct. The book emitted light and displayed text on an empty page.
--------------------
-Q&A-
Regarding the Acquisition Conditions for Words
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Words can be obtained through experience.
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'...What?'
Dumbfounded, I turned the page. But only blank pages followed.
"Is this really all? There's nothing more?"
I held the book up in front of my eyes and asked. But the book no longer emitted light or displayed text.
"Damn it."
I dismissed the book. And I began to ponder what the exact acquisition conditions for Words were.
Then, my consciousness momentarily faded.
"...Huh."
I shot up from my spot.
'Was it because my mana ran out? I absolutely couldn't resist sleep any longer.'
Since sleep was also needed to recover mana, I decided to leave the dungeon and get a room.
***
When I opened my eyes in the inn room, it was already 10 AM.
'I had planned to sleep for about 3 hours and move again…….'
It seemed I had slept nearly twice that, almost 6 hours.
I remembered slumping onto the bed without even washing because I was so tired, but I had no memory of after that.
I jumped up, roughly washed my face, and left the inn.
The place I headed after leaving the inn was the market.
I planned to sell monster materials to earn dungeon entrance fees.
My bag was full of materials gathered while going around the first floor of the hunting ground yesterday.
I went around to various material merchants.
Part of it was to check purchase prices, but there was something more important.
'This one looks good.'
Seeing the monster materials displayed on the counter, I entered the shop.
The shop owner carefully examined the materials I brought, taking his time.
"Did you dismantle them yourself?"
I nodded my head.
"The preservation of your materials is excellent. Few broken or damaged parts either. Though the materials themselves are from low-grade monsters, this level of quality is not common……."
'As expected, he knows his stuff.'
I had been as careful as possible when catching and dismantling monsters.
This was the only way to sell low-grade monster materials for even a slightly higher price.
And the materials displayed on this shop's counter were all of good quality.
It was evidence that the owner cared greatly about quality.
"How about this much?"
The shop owner spread his fingers and suggested a price.
I was a bit surprised. The owner had offered a much higher price than I had expected.
"However, there is a condition."
The shop owner smiled.
"If you trade materials in the future as well, I would like you to use our shop."
"That's a very attractive condition."
I shook hands with the owner.
Coming out of the shop, the heaviness I felt in my inner pocket made the corners of my mouth rise on their own.
With the money I had now, I could enter the dungeon three times.
'The immediate money problem is solved. Now, let's focus only on growing strong enough to take them down.'
I hurried toward the dungeon.