Chapter 65
Jeong-Hoon didn’t like black magic very much.
This was because the person who had attacked his mother used black magic.
For a while, he couldn’t control his anger and mercilessly killed any monster related to black magic.
But he didn’t kill Michael.
‘Revenge.’
Michael had a lot in common with Jeong-Hoon.
Also, Michael wasn’t a monster.
‘Since he wasn’t in the collection, it seems he was caught up in the dungeon.’
New World wasn’t a newly created dimension.
It could be seen as a world constructed by relocating parts of other dimensions.
Perhaps Michael had become the master of the dungeon without realizing it after being buried and dying.
That’s why he could respond to Jeong-Hoon’s taming skill.
===
[Taming List]
-Michael (Epic)
===
Michael was on the taming list.
Jeong-Hoon checked Michael’s stats.
===
[Michael]
-Grade: Epic
-Level: 140
-Class: Necromancer
[Detailed Stats]
-Strength: 73
-Agility: 82
-Stamina: 66
-Defense: 60
-Wisdom: 172
-Magic Power: 183
-Mental Strength: 175
===
As a necromancer, his physical stats were quite low compared to his level.
However, his wisdom, magic power, and mental strength exceeded his level.
This meant he would be quite useful.
“By the way, where’s the crystal ball? It should look like a big glass ball.”
“There’s an old box next to the coffin. It’s probably in there.”
There it was.
Jeong-Hoon approached the coffin and picked up the dust-covered box next to it.
The box was tightly sealed with a metal lock.
“Can I break this?”
“Of course! What’s mine is yours, master!”
With Michael’s permission, Jeong-Hoon mercilessly punched the box.
‘Underworld King’s Fist Technique 1st Form.’
The box couldn’t withstand the fist imbued with Underworld King’s Fist Technique and shattered.
As the necromancer had said, there was a broken crystal ball inside the box.
It was the same crystal ball he had seen in the abandoned house.
‘Found it.’
The corners of Jeong-Hoon’s mouth lifted into a wide smile.
He reached out and touched the crystal ball.
Just like in the abandoned house in the starting village, an exclamation mark appeared above the crystal ball.
[You have discovered a hidden theme!]
[You have acquired 5,000 achievement points!]
[Would you like to move to Sol’s Hall?]
If the hidden theme of the starting village was the ‘Abundant Mana Field’, this time it was ‘Sol’s Hall’.
“Move.”
As Jeong-Hoon accepted, his body was surrounded by a blue light and swallowed by the broken crystal ball.
At the same time.
Isaac was pacing in front of the portal, keeping watch.
In the meantime, several knights appeared.
“Captain, what are you doing here?”
They were the ones who had finished their shift and were leaving after being replaced by the next shift.
Therefore, they hadn’t heard Isaac’s warning not to approach this area.
It seemed like the previous shift hadn’t properly handed over the information.
“You can’t come here without permission.”
Isaac stopped them.
“What? What’s going on… Huh?”
One of the knights’ eyes widened.
The portal was wide open in the abandoned dungeon, where only traces of a portal should have remained.
“Captain, why is that open?”
“Hoon is inside, taking care of it.”
It should be fine to say this much.
There was no need to keep it a secret.
“Ah, you mean the stranger who subjugated the Ogre King alone?”
Isaac nodded.
“And now he’s trying to completely destroy this abandoned dungeon.”
“Is that true?!”
“Yes.”
This tiresome abandoned dungeon would disappear?
If that were true, they would welcome it with open arms.
Because of guarding this abandoned dungeon, they had to work three days to get one day off, instead of two days of work for one day off.
If this abandoned dungeon disappeared, there would be no reason to work here anymore, so their working conditions would improve.
“But how did that benefactor open it?”
What they were curious about was how he had opened this abandoned dungeon.
Originally, the abandoned dungeon was not only in ruins but also emitted contaminated mana.
That’s why even the knights were cautious while guarding it.
“I don’t know either. But one thing’s for sure, Hoon will close this tiresome dungeon.”
Isaac shook his head.
He had seen Jeong-Hoon approach the traces of the portal and place something on it.
Then the abandoned dungeon reacted, and the portal was restored.
‘Hoon seemed to know that the portal would be restored.’
He didn’t look surprised at all when the portal was restored.
As if he had expected everything, he entered the portal with a calm expression.
That’s why Isaac was sure that Jeong-Hoon would be able to close the abandoned dungeon.
* * *
[You have entered Sol’s Hall.]
[An additional 10,000 achievement points have been awarded.]
The new hidden theme, Sol’s Hall.
His vision went dark and then returned, and he was standing in the center of the hall.
The hall was very spacious, with giant statues in the east and west, each in a different pose.
But their faces were all the same.
‘The God of Magic, Sol.’
Sol was a legendary figure who was said to have reached the pinnacle of magic and become a god.
The hall was built by Sol’s followers and was now a forgotten place, long abandoned by people.
The reason was simple.
Sol wasn’t the only one who had reached the pinnacle.
If Sol had reached the pinnacle of white magic, there was a figure named Ballack who had reached the pinnacle of black magic.
And the number of his followers was a whopping 1.5 million.
In contrast, Sol’s followers, who were relatively humble and rarely showed themselves, numbered only about 60,000.
As a result, there were cases where people knew Ballack but not Sol.
Due to the overwhelming numbers, Sol’s Hall collapsed less than a week after Sol’s eternal rest.
The Sol’s Hall he was currently in was restored to its state before it collapsed in New World.
‘The reason why this is a hidden theme is simple.’
Just like the Abundant Mana Field in the starting village, this place was designated as a hidden theme because one could achieve magical accomplishments here.
Jeong-Hoon walked towards a statue.
[A statue imbued with mysterious power.]
It was recorded that Sol had blessed those who built the hall and left his magic power in each statue.
First, the statue in the east.
It was a statue in the pose of raising a staff towards the sky.
[You can increase your Circles.]
This statue had the power to increase Circles.
Currently, Jeong-Hoon had one Circle circulating in his heart.
Even that, the only magic he could use was Magic Missile, and unlike his previous regression, he didn’t have much use for it.
This was because Underworld King’s Fist Technique and Anima were too outstanding.
[Would you like to increase your Circles?]
You could accumulate up to 10 Circles.
However, the process of accumulating them was extremely painful.
That’s why Alessandro Bryden had been desperately searching for the hidden theme.
It was a cheat key to achieving magical accomplishments.
“Wow! You can increase Circles?! What an amazing technique!”
Behind him, Michael cheered as he looked around the statue.
Since he had been successfully tamed and became Jeong-Hoon’s subordinate, he could accompany him to the hidden theme.
“This is a statue of Sol, who reached the pinnacle of white magic.”
At the mention of white magic, Michael was startled.
“White magic? Eww, I almost got dirty. Ptui ptui.”
Jeong-Hoon’s eyes narrowed at that sight.
“Dirty? I was about to accept this power.”
“Ah, I meant that it was dirty! Even the clearest water gets polluted if you add a drop of ink!”
Michael desperately tried to explain himself, even resorting to self-deprecating remarks.
His excuse worked surprisingly well.
“That’s true.”
Black magic was rotten after all.
When Jeong-Hoon readily agreed, Michael’s face fell slightly.
“Yes… Well… That’s true.”
“Well, not you though.”
“Yes?”
“You’re my subordinate. That means you’re not a dirty guy anymore.”
In other words, he didn’t need to belittle himself.
“Master…!”
Michael seemed quite moved, clasping his hands together and tearing up.
‘Raising Circles increases the level of magic by one stage.’
It was similar to raising the grade of a skill, and it could be stacked.
A 4-Circle Magic Missile (Normal) had almost the same power as a 1-Circle Magic Missile (Epic).
Raising Circles was also an essential task for mages.
[Scanning user.]
[Current circuit: ‘1’.]
[Would you like to construct additional circuits in your body?]
When you completed the first class transfer, you engraved one Circle.
And in the second class transfer, you usually engraved three Circles.
This was because one Circle was created during the leveling process, and another was added upon completing the second class transfer.
Of course, Jeong-Hoon hadn’t gone through the process of adding Circles, so he still only had one.
‘I should construct them.’
When Jeong-Hoon accepted, his body felt warm for a moment, and another circuit diagram was created near his chest.
[Circuit diagram constructed.]
Now he had 2 Circles.
‘Two Circles, but I can only use Magic Missile.’
A chuckle escaped his lips.
Next was the statue in the west, reading a book.
[A statue imbued with mysterious power.]
It was also a statue that held power.
[You can learn ‘2’ random magic spells.]
This statue contained knowledge that allowed you to learn magic.
Two magic spells that Sol himself had used.
‘This one definitely requires luck.’
Sol had used a variety of magic.
From Unique grade to Normal grade.
There were also grades above Legendary, but they were blocked from being obtained in this hidden theme.
Of course, the probability wasn’t 0%, but it was a low probability of around 0.0001%, practically the same as not being able to get them.
‘I regret it. If I had known a little more about the hidden theme, I could have aimed for even greater rewards.’
Those were the words Alessandro had muttered in passing.
And Jeong-Hoon still remembered those words.
‘Is it time to use the achievement points?’
Of course, Jeong-Hoon had no intention of settling for Unique grade.
[The current level of the Achievement Shop is ‘4’.]
[Items for sale are placed in each category.]
The Achievement Shop was selling far more items than level 3.
Jeong-Hoon currently had 132,000 achievement points.
Since he hadn’t used any points after awakening Anima, it boasted a figure easily exceeding 100,000 points.
‘I’ve accumulated a lot.’
The corners of Jeong-Hoon’s mouth lifted as he checked his points.
This was enough to carry out his plan.
First, he set the category to consumables and scrolled all the way down.
-Absolute Luck Potion
The Absolute Luck Potion, which cost a whopping 30,000 points per bottle.
This potion was a cheat item that increased the probability of a one-time draw to 50%.
However, it cost 30,000 points per use.
50% was a 50/50 chance.
If he got a dud with a 50% chance, 30,000 points would be wasted.
That’s why ordinary users didn’t even look at the ‘Absolute Luck Potion’.
‘It’s usually very difficult to earn achievement points.’
In Jeong-Hoon’s case, he used his knowledge from his previous regression to move around, so achievement points accumulated relatively quickly, but ordinary users found it very difficult to even collect 5,000 achievement points.
But he couldn’t not try.
‘If it’s a 50/50 chance, there’s a possibility.’
It wasn’t like he was short on points.
Jeong-Hoon purchased two Absolute Luck Potions.
Spending 60,000 points, he had 72,000 achievement points remaining.
[Absolute Luck Potion]
-Type: Consumable
-Grade: Unique
-Increases the probability of a one-time draw to 50% (applies only to the highest reward).
-If the reward is a grade, the reward is given according to the highest grade.
Jeong-Hoon took out the potion from his inventory and drank it.
[Would you like to learn magic?]
The Absolute Luck Potion was in effect.
Jeong-Hoon immediately learned magic.
[You have acquired ‘Lightning Bolt (Epic)’.]
The first skill he acquired was Lightning Bolt.
Although it was a powerful lightning magic, Jeong-Hoon couldn’t hide his disappointment.
He had used 30,000 achievement points to draw it, and it was only Epic, not Unique.
But he had one more chance left, so he drank the potion again and pressed the try button.
[You have acquired ‘Block (Legendary)’.]
Finally, it had come.