Artifact Devouring Player-Chapter 32: Silence - (1)

[Chapter 32]

Swoosh!

I immediately severed the ghoul's head.

It seemed like a ghoul that had fallen behind from its group.

Normally, no matter how fearless monsters were, they wouldn't loiter near the portal at the entrance.

It was a danger zone.

Also, the unique energy radiating from the portal itself was hostile to monsters, making them stay away.

But this ghoul seemed to have neither the will nor the strength left to resist and lost its life to a light strike from my greatsword.

"In a state of silence, no matter how much I think about it, basic attacks are the only thing I can do."

I could break the silence with Recovery, but that was a skill I could use only once every 30 seconds at best.

That's why I had put so much effort into developing defensive sword skills.

They say that offense is the best defense, but I believed that, depending on the situation, defense could become the best offense.

This was exactly one of those situations.

"I see it."

The Exploration Necklace I had obtained from the Kobold King marked monsters within a 100-meter radius in red.

It felt as if red dots had been overlaid onto my vision, but since they were transparent, it wasn't distracting.

'There are a lot of hidden ones.'

Even though I couldn't see them with my eyes, the necklace detected numerous presences.

Most of them were monsters hiding behind trees—definitely intelligent.

The wind was blowing in the opposite direction, so there was no way my scent could be detected.

The eerie atmosphere of the dungeon made for perfect conditions.

The monsters were positioned perfectly to ambush players consumed by the fear emanating from the dungeon itself.

Step. Step. Step.

I strode boldly toward the spot where several monsters had gathered.

They didn't even flinch.

'They've got patience.'

Impatient monsters often reveal themselves when the enemy approaches too slowly, unable to wait any longer.

But these creatures were so silent it was as if they weren't even breathing.

Undead monsters had a distinct stench, so even a breath could sometimes give away their position.

『Full Charge』

Standing at a reasonable distance, I prepared Full Charge.

In front of me, there was nothing but tall, standing trees—but appearances could be deceiving.

I gathered my strength.

And gathered more.

When the amount of mana and propulsion condensed became too much for the Indomitable Greatsword to bear—

Kuaaah!

I shot forward, cutting through the damp, oppressive space, covering more than 10 meters in an instant.

Crash!

The first victim of Full Charge was a tall, well-grown tree.

Even before the blade touched it, the bark had already begun to split apart.

The moment the greatsword connected, the trunk shattered completely.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

I felt the heavy sensation of something being cut down repeatedly.

When I turned my head, I saw numerous Mummies who had been hiding behind the tree collapsing.

No, they were already dead.

There was no way they could survive a fully-powered Full Charge attack.

Those crouched in ambush lost their heads.

Those standing stiffly had their waists severed clean in half.

Ten mummies hidden in a row.

They couldn't even swing their weapons once before departing this life.

They had likely anticipated various attack scenarios from the intruder—

But being wiped out along with the tree? That was unimaginable.

[The Constellation Owner of Torn Lips bursts out in admiration, calling it a display of overwhelming might.]

[The Lion King takes a sip of beer, saying it was a crude but brilliant move.]

The watching Constellations were in awe of my tactics.

Although I had simply chosen the most certain method, to the Constellations, it probably looked like a display of raw power.

Rhi! Rhiih!

Perhaps due to the sudden death of the front-line mummy unit, other hidden mummies began revealing themselves one after another.

"Where are you going? You're all experience points—I can't just let you go!"

I started chasing after the terrified, fleeing mummies.

Even as I did, I continued using the Exploration Necklace to track the enemies' positions.

'Smart, as expected.'

I noticed that some of the fleeing mummies were actually laying a trap, pretending to escape.

This was because a third presence had been caught within the detection range of the Exploration Necklace.

Though their faces were twisted in fear, the situation wasn't as it seemed.

Some of the mummies were waiting atop trees, covered in dense foliage and leaves, ready for an ambush.

"Do you think that'll work?"

『Back Step』

『Knockback Burst』

I used two skills in quick succession.

Back Step was a skill I had acquired from the Boots of Evasion found in a rift, allowing me to move 5 meters backward instantly.

Since Full Charge took time to prepare, I turned my body 180 degrees, then quickly created a 5-meter advance using Back Step.

I then struck the tree using Knockback Burst.

Unlike monsters, trees had zero skill resistance.

Naturally, the full effect of Knockback Burst landed on the tree.

Kuwaaah!

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The mummies hiding atop the tree fell like chestnuts dropping from a shaken branch.

They hadn't expected to be discovered while hiding amidst the dense foliage and branches.

Swoosh! Crash!

The falling mummies had their heads sliced cleanly and evenly as they hit the ground.

Thud. Thud.

Headless corpses piled up, their lifeless eyes unable to close.

The battle was already over.

Rhhhrrhhh!

The remaining mummies, having lost all will to fight, began fleeing in panic.

"Where do you think you're going? I said come here!"

The tide of the battle had completely shifted.

I no longer had to worry about taking any hits.

This was just the beginning, but it couldn't have started better than this.

At the same time, just as I had begun my assault on Silent Ground—

A meeting was underway in the scouting department of the Korean Player Union.

The meeting, which had been going on since morning, was focused on evaluating the worth of promising players the association aimed to recruit.

Since the recruitment discussion was held in order of official player level, the final candidate of the day had the lowest official level.

Click. Click.

Soon, the large beam projector displayed an image of one person—me, Shin Sanghyun.

The staff member in charge of the meeting pointed at the screen and calmly introduced me.

"Our discussion today is about the player Shin Sanghyun. It hasn't even been a month since his awakening as an ordinary porter, but he's been making remarkable progress."

"I heard about the Bupyeong Station incident. Even Lee Jeong and Lee Hyun, known for their picky tastes, praised him."

"That video of him making eye contact with Do Kyungsoo at Gangnam Station—I thought it was straight out of a movie."

The comments came from Ahn Ikhoon, the leader of Scout Team 4, and Shin Minjae, the deputy leader.

The Player Union's Scout Department had up to 10 teams, each responsible for recruiting talents.

Teams 1 through 3 focused on recruiting players who had already reached high levels of growth.

The fact that Team 4 was now discussing me meant they were targeting a high-priority prospect with significant potential.

My name was now on that list.

Previously, Ahn Ikhoon and Shin Minjae had received reports from the Lee Jeong and Lee Hyun brothers regarding my specialties and abilities.

With numerous debuff skills at my disposal, my characteristics were definitely different from others.

They said he completely overwhelmed the nimble Kobold King, who used a bow, leaving him utterly helpless.

It was something a level-50 player could never achieve within the bounds of common sense.

In other words, being a player who shattered common sense was proof of immense potential.

One of the female employees in the meeting raised her hand.

She was a newcomer who had just joined Team 4.

Despite being new, she was bold and unafraid to voice her opinions.

Ahn Ikhoon appreciated her audacity.

"Igah Hee, do you have something to say?"

"I've reviewed everything reported so far about Shin Sanghyun, including all the publicly available information."

"Did anything stand out? I personally think Shin Sanghyun just got lucky and managed to acquire a lot of skills by chance."

Ahn Ikhoon's reaction was typical of those who had encountered information about Sanghyun.

He wasn't the kind of player who had the background to buy skill books and learn from them.

If he were the child of a major conglomerate's chairman, he could have been raised through what people call 'money power,' but that wasn't the case.

So, the assumption was that, though the probability was incredibly low, he might be a lucky case who acquired multiple skills early in his awakening.

But such players always had clear limits.

There had been countless promising players like that in the past.

All of them eventually hit a growth ceiling.

That's why Ahn Ikhoon wasn't particularly impressed with Sanghyun, even though journalists like Park Jungmin, who were known for sniffing out big stories, were hyping him up.

At best, he thought Sanghyun would be another fake prospect whose potential would be revealed as shallow within a month or two.

"I met with the team leader of the dungeon raid group that worked with Shin Sanghyun right after his awakening."

"And?"

"At that time, Shin Sanghyun only had one skill that caused stiffness."

The skill Igah Hee referred to was none other than Demon Bash.

In fact, back then, that was the only skill Sanghyun had.

"He could have been saving his skills."

"That might be the case if he were just riding along in a low-level dungeon. But from what I heard, Shin Sanghyun led every battle himself."

"And what does that imply?"

"Every time new information about Shin Sanghyun gets updated, he seems to have gained new skills. They're not ones he had from the beginning—he keeps acquiring them as time goes on."

Igah Hee's deduction was so accurate that Sanghyun himself would have been surprised if he had been present.

"Do you think that's possible? There's no sign of him buying skill books, and he doesn't seem to have a mentor, either."

"That's why I didn't just focus on the skills—I looked at Shin Sanghyun as a player himself."

"And your conclusion?"

"I don't know how, but Shin Sanghyun can either copy or steal skills from others."

"...!"

Although the concept differed from devouring, it was a remarkably sharp deduction from someone who had never even met Sanghyun.

"His mechanism for developing skills and abilities likely doesn't follow the standard path that other players take."

"That's a mutant. A true anomaly! All those kinds of players are currently at the very top of the player world."

As Ahn Ikhoon spoke, it seemed like his thoughts naturally aligned, and his mouth hung open as he finished.

It was as if he had just admitted the potential and possibilities Sanghyun possessed.

The evaluation of this promising player, which had previously been cut short every few minutes, seemed like it would last much longer this time.

Everyone in the room swallowed nervously.

A marathon meeting was about to begin.

At the same time—

Sanghyun was already facing his next opponent after slaughtering the swarm of Mummies.

An Undead Mage.

As expected from a magic-type monster, it specialized in long-range attacks, using the most suitable methods for such combat.

Sure enough, a buzzing sound filled the air, accompanied by a sinister presence that disrupted Sanghyun's focus.

"Suicide flies."

Tiny, no bigger than a fingernail, but if they collided with anything, they would release highly corrosive acidic fluid—vicious little things.

Kuhuhuhu.

The Undead Mages grinned wickedly, looking down on Sanghyun.

As if they had found an easy prey.