Attribute Plunderer - Episode 4
#4. BORN TO KILL (3)
After hunting his first goblin, Gang Jun dashed through the cave.
Gim Jihwan and the squad members chased after him with all their might.
Even so, catching up to Gang Jun was impossible.
Grrrrk!
Goblins appeared in front of Gang Jun, who was running at the lead.
Gang Jun had just activated his skill.
Shhk!
Gurk?!
Korrrk!
The goblins were cut down by the practice dagger.
The sensation of separating bone from flesh.
At times, the impact of cleaving through a neck in a single blow…….
His body was sluggish beyond comparison to before his regression, but that sensation alone remained unchanged.
Grrrk?!
Clang!
The goblins couldn't even dare to swing their arms once.
It was only natural.
There was no way mere goblins could properly read Gang Jun's movements.
A speed that made it impossible to believe he had just awakened.
The secret to that speed lay in none other than his skill.
[Skill: Swift Kill (迅殺)]
[Description: Temporarily reallocates Constitution stat points to increase Strength and Agility values.]
'Swift Kill,' a skill based on the trait 'Assassin.' It was one of the skills that had made Gang Jun the greatest assassin in the past.
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[Name: Gang Jun]
[Constitution: Lv20(-10)]
[Strength: Lv18(+2)]
[Agility: Lv21(+8)]
[Mana: Lv12]
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[Reallocating 10 Constitution stat points (limit) to Strength and Agility.]
'Since the skill level is low, 10 is the limit for now…….'
The Constitution stat points Gang Jun reallocated were 10.
It couldn't be called a drastic change.
However, the increased Strength and Agility values were more than enough to massacre fifty goblins.
Shhk!
Of course, the weakened Constitution was a risk factor.
If he were hit by a goblin's club swinging wildly, his lowered Constitution could cause him to take severe damage.
But Gang Jun was not a beginner—he was a veteran combat superhuman.
The probability of Gang Jun accidentally getting hit by a goblin's club was zero.
"Damn it…… How is this possible?!"
"Unbelievable."
"At this rate, we'll all fail!"
The squad members chasing after Gang Jun were dumbfounded.
Before them lay nothing but already dead goblins.
Even though Gang Jun was killing goblins and passing through the cave, they couldn't even see his back.
"Where the hell did that monster bastard pop out from?!"
Gim Jihwan was a bit further ahead, but chasing Gang Jun's tail was his limit.
The complaints of the squad members and Gim Jihwan lasted only a moment.
"Hah, hah……."
"Hurk……."
Exhausted from the long run, they could only let out rough breaths.
It was around the time they had just passed the midpoint of the cave.
[Squad 2 mock raid complete.]
"Uuaaaack!"
"Fuck!"
The running squad members collapsed on the spot, and Gim Jihwan ultimately cursed.
[Squad 2, Gang Jun……. Contribution: 100%. The rest are omitted. All examinees except 'Gang Jun' have failed.]
The civil servant making the announcement tilted his head upon seeing the raid time.
The recorded time on the stopwatch was 4 minutes 33 seconds. The average record was in the 30-minute range.
Moreover, the contribution was 100%.
'Is this even possible…?'
The dungeon civil servant was doubting his own eyes.
He picked up his smartphone and began typing a text message.
The message containing Gang Jun's record was sent somewhere.
*
Having obtained his certificate, Gang Jun exited the Management Bureau.
He deliberately headed toward a secluded area.
'It's about time they showed up…….'
As soon as he thought that, panting sounds came from behind.
It was Gim Jihwan and the squad members.
"You fucking bastard. Found you."
Gim Jihwan wore an expression of intense anger.
"……."
"We could have passed together!"
"It's not like you get anything for hitting 100%!"
The squad members, who had been cursing and fighting with Gim Jihwan, had now united on one side to confront Gang Jun.
Gang Jun's one-man show had brought them together.
"Didn't you say we'd do this according to skill?"
"……."
"……."
At Gang Jun's retort, the squad members lost their words.
Gim Jihwan couldn't contain his rising irritation.
Gim Jihwan had started from a different line than everyone else.
If it were a race, he had started fifty paces ahead on his own.
But then a madman who seemed to be a hundred or two hundred paces ahead of him had appeared.
When faced with such an unfamiliar situation, Gim Jihwan's response was always the same.
"That confident? Shall we see what you've got?"
He swung his fist immediately.
It was a fitting response for a ruffian from a chaebol family.
Thud.
Gim Jihwan cracked his knuckles and approached Gang Jun.
"Are you trying to vent your frustration at being a scrub on me?"
"Scrub……? Do you even know who I am to run your mouth like that?"
Gang Jun smirked and replied.
"I know very well. The grandson of the chairman of the major corporation Eunseong Group, the superhuman Gim Jihwan who will make quite a name for himself among B-ranks through paid stat boosting. A.k.a. Golden Spoon Lizard."
Golden Spoon Lizard.
It was a derogatory nickname for Gim Jihwan.
"What? What did you say?"
Of course, this was a title he would only obtain far in the future. There was no way Gim Jihwan could properly understand it.
"Your ability. You transform into a lizard, right?"
Crack.
At the word 'lizard,' Gim Jihwan clenched his teeth.
"……It's not a lizard, it's a dragon. You son of a bitch!"
Gim Jihwan swung his fist outright.
Thwack!
Gang Jun took Gim Jihwan's fist squarely.
"……I knew you had no manners, but I didn't know you were stupid enough to swing your fists without knowing your place."
"You haven't had enough yet?"
Gim Jihwan threw another punch.
Whoosh!
But Gang Jun evaded it with utmost ease.
"This establishes self-defense."
Gang Jun delivered a counter punch to Gim Jihwan.
At the same time, a message popped up.
[You are attacking a human!]
[Your attack power is enhanced by the trait 'Assassin'!]
The passive of the trait 'Assassin' had activated.
"Kuheok!"
Staggering from the heavy impact, Gim Jihwan collapsed on the spot. Blood gushed from his nose.
"Blood……? You're dead today……."
Wiping the blood, he let out a mad laugh.
He looked as if he had been waiting for this very moment.
"Good. I really wanted to try this ability on a person……."
Gim Jihwan's appearance as he stood up was ominous.
His body began to swell as if his muscles were ballooning.
Because of that, the clothes he was wearing were all torn apart.
"Kyak!"
One of the women watching screamed in surprise.
But it wasn't because his clothes were torn.
Scales sprouted from Gim Jihwan's skin, and a long tail burst from his buttocks.
Not only that, bizarre spines sprouted from his back.
"M-monster……?"
The squad members seemed quite shocked by Gim Jihwan's appearance.
'Is it because the skill level is low? It looks cute.'
But to Gang Jun, who knew what Gim Jihwan would look like in the future, it looked like a baby lizard.
Body transformation skill.
Some Awakened could transform their bodies.
The transformed body manifested various abilities; in Gim Jihwan's case, it was an explosive increase in stats.
"Since you made me look like this, you'd better make it fun enough……."
Having transformed into something like a giant bipedal lizard rather than a human, Gim Jihwan immediately charged at Gang Jun.
Gang Jun was busy dodging Gim Jihwan's attacks.
"……Shouldn't we stop that?"
"What means do we have to stop that monster……."
The squad members watching their fight voiced their concerns.
But not a single person stepped forward.
Ding!
All that could be heard was the notification sound of a video recording.
"Hahaha! What? You don't know your place?! Say that again, you bastard!"
Gim Jihwan laughed excitedly as he dominated the fight.
'His stats right now far surpass mine.'
While fighting, Gang Jun instinctively realized the difference in their stats.
The transformed Gim Jihwan's strength and speed clearly far exceeded Gang Jun's.
Even so, he could barely avoid the attacks.
That was possible because Gang Jun was a veteran superhuman.
'A graze means serious injury…….'
Large, sharp claws flew at Gang Jun.
If they even grazed him, his skin would obviously be torn.
'Counterattacks probably won't work either.'
Gim Jihwan's body was covered in scales.
They looked thick and hard with a glossy sheen.
Swish!
In an instant, Gim Jihwan's tail flew at Gang Jun's ankle.
It was a moment where an attack was almost permitted.
"What are you doing?! Stop running away and face me properly, you cowardly bastard!"
Gim Jihwan's tail moved as if it were another arm.
Gang Jun could only avoid attacks, unable to land a single counterattack.
It seemed Gang Jun had no chance of winning.
'He's quite the troublesome opponent…….'
He had no choice but to admit it. Gim Jihwan was strong.
'This will be worth taking the trait.'
That was why Gang Jun was licking his lips.
"Hah, hah……. Stop dodging and come at me, you son of a bitch!"
Just three minutes.
That was how long it took for Gim Jihwan to exhaust all his stamina.
He repeatedly let out rough breaths.
"Tired already?"
"Hah…. Shut up!"
Before long, Gim Jihwan was supporting his exhausted body on both knees.
There was a reason he tired so quickly.
'Transformation-type skills inherently consume a lot of mana.'
Skills that transformed the body consumed a great deal of mana.
Even high-ranking superhumans found it difficult to fight for long while transformed.
'It's a skill that doesn't suit someone who gets excited so easily.'
Therefore, a skilled superhuman needed to coldly judge when to use transformation-type skills.
But Gim Jihwan couldn't make that judgment well.
It was because of his temperament that easily got excited.
That was the reason Gim Jihwan had no choice but to remain a B-rank superhuman despite spending enormous amounts of money.
Gang Jun used Swift Kill to raise his Strength stat.
He finally threw a devastating punch.
Puaak!
It was a blow enhanced by the passive effect of the trait 'Assassin.'
"Kuheok!"
Gim Jihwan collapsed from a single strike.
At the same time, his transformed body began to return to its original state.
"Kyak!"
Once again, one of the women watching shrieked.
'His skill is mediocre, but the trait is quite useful as utility.'
As soon as Gim Jihwan collapsed, Gang Jun approached as if he had been waiting and activated his skill.
[Using the skill 'Mask Crafting'!]
[You must make contact with the target's body!]
Gang Jun firmly stepped on the fallen Gim Jihwan's chest with his foot.
[Crafting a mask using the target's trait as material!]
[Mask Crafting in progress: 0%]
"Kuh……! H-hey, get off……?! I'm Gim Jihwan. Gim Jihwan of Eunseong……!"
Gang Jun pressed down on his chest even harder instead of answering.
"Kueok!"
As 'Mask Crafting' began, Gim Jihwan thrashed in pain.
[Mask Crafting in progress: 27%]
"You won't die. Probably, though I'm not certain."
"S-stop……!"
Gim Jihwan's body jolted from the agony.
[Mask Crafting in progress: 100%]
[The trait 'Lizard (B-)' has been sealed into a mask!]
[You have acquired a skill based on the trait 'Lizard (B-)'!]
[You have acquired the skill 'Adhesive Setae (剛毛)'!]
[The target's trait used as material has been destroyed!]
"Kuh, my body……."
Gim Jihwan instinctively sensed something wrong with his body.
It felt as if he had returned to before his Awakening.
"S-status window!"
Despite his shout, the status window did not appear.
It was proof that he had become an ordinary person.
Meanwhile, a different message had appeared before Gang Jun's eyes.
[You can use the skill 'Mask Art'!]
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[List of Equippable Masks]
1. Lizard (B-): Imitates the physical characteristics of a lizard.
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Gang Jun tried using the 'Mask Art' skill as a test.
[Equipping the 'Lizard (B-)' mask!]
Then, a mask formed over Gang Jun's face.
It was a mask that looked like the face of a grotesque lizard had been stamped onto it.
[24 hours until next trait change.]
'So there's a time restriction on switching.'
Only one mask among those crafted could be active at a time.
It took 24 hours to change masks.
"You little shit…, you think you'll get away with this?! One word from me and……."
Gang Jun grabbed Gim Jihwan's shoulder.
For some reason, Gim Jihwan couldn't help but tremble in a terror he had never felt before.
"Shut your trap."
It was an instinctive fear born from a massive difference in power.
Compared to ordinary people, the physical abilities of the Awakened were virtually monstrous.
Just as one instinctively feels fear toward a wild beast, ordinary people couldn't help but feel fear toward a threatening Awakened.
And Gim Jihwan was no longer an Awakened.
"If you run your mouth about today, your corpse will be dumped in every corner of the country."
As Gang Jun finished speaking, the grotesque mask began to burn away from the edges.
Gang Jun's bare face slowly revealed itself.
"Using skills on people is my specialty, you see."
"……."
Ssssshhhh…….
Having had his own words thrown back at him, Gim Jihwan ended up pissing himself.