LRAB Chapter 368: Forest Of Mists (1)
Chapter 368: Forest Of Mists (1)
Chapter 368: Forest Of Mists (1)
One minute later.
Kang-hoo examined the upgraded Stigma of Corruption – Cuirass.
There were two core options too tempting to resist, so he upgraded without a second thought.
His stock of Hematite dropped back to zero—but what he’d gained left no room for regret.
[Stigma of Corruption – Cuirass]
[Tier: 1]
[HP +250]
[Agility +450]
[Anti-Magic +350]
[Toughness +350]
[Stigma – Brand a hunter you killed and inherit, as-is, the Divine Power or Dark Energy stat they possessed in life. One-time only.]
‘HP and Agility up by 100; Anti-Magic and Toughness up by 250. And I’ve re-read the Stigma option while I’m at it.’
The stat jumps were sizable.
They were exactly the stats Kang-hoo needed, so the efficiency felt even greater. Thankfully, Mana hadn’t gone up.
He would have to time the Stigma’s use, but he figured he’d likely use it when he fought Vincent.
As a hunter adept with Dark Energy, Vincent would have amassed a considerable pool by now.
[Craving – No longer functions after the upgrade.]
[Black Sun – Dark Energy never falls below 1.]
The old Craving option had done its part, and Black Sun continued to pay dividends each time.
“Here’s the real jackpot.”
What shocked Kang-hoo—again—was a change to an option he hadn’t expected.
Before the upgrade, the cuirass had “Corrupted Beast Evolution.”
That was what let him use a Corrupted Beast rather than a Corrupted Ghost, an advanced form over the latter.
But evolving beyond the beast stage had required permanently burning 500 Dark Energy—a steep price he’d dreaded.
Now, with the cuirass upgrade, a new option had appeared—saving him that 500 Dark Energy outright.
[Evolution to the Corrupted – Move through the air in the forms of Corrupted Ghost/Corrupted Beast, or on the ground in the form of the Corrupted.
The Corrupted has a tangible body and can equip “items.”
Assuming sizes match, it can be stored in subspace; it has self and consciousness, and can converse.
However, its personality is assigned randomly upon first summon and is permanent.
Unlike the Corrupted Ghost/Beast, the Corrupted requires time to revive after dissipating; you can shorten this by spending Dark Energy.
For detailed tooltip, press (Details).]
When he had first gained control of a Corrupted Ghost, he had set the Corrupted as the end goal for this reason:
it could serve as an intelligent retainer—someone who could hold a conversation.
Like dressing and raising a summoned monster in a game, the Corrupted could be used in much the same way.
Of course, if it dissipated, it would drop all its equipped items.
So you either kept it moving at your side at all times or avoided giving it anything too expensive.
‘In A Villain Turned Savior’s Life Handbook, the setting was mentioned, but there was no actual implementation described.’
His eyes gleamed.
He burned to summon it on the spot and see what it looked like.
What would the thing resemble?
A death knight? Or a black wraith akin to a Corrupted Ghost or Beast?
He calmed the thudding in his chest and checked the options that came with summoning the Corrupted.
This one, too, meant a lot to him—highly promising for future use.
[Unfair Trade – In exchange for temporarily losing 1,000 Toughness or 1,000 Anti-Magic, gain a full-body shield that negates one physical- or magic-type attack skill.
You must pre-craft these as summonable orbs for combat use, and the trade takes some time.
After a shield created via Unfair Trade is consumed, the lost stat will not recover for five minutes.]
Testing Unfair Trade, he saw his stat drop immediately and a walnut-like mote appear.
Losing Toughness produced a red mote that responded to physical skills;
losing Anti-Magic produced a blue mote that responded to magic skills.
These orbited Kang-hoo like satellites, then unfurled to cover his whole body when needed.
‘I don’t have to time it like Self-Defense, so it’s far easier to use.’
He liked the option.
He always fought with the goal of taking zero hits.
So even if Unfair Trade cost him Anti-Magic or Toughness for a while, he didn’t mind much.
If he left an opening and got hit hard, 10,000 Toughness wouldn’t save him, let alone 1,000.
The same applied to any attacker: if they saw an opening, they would pour everything in to end it right there.
So the burden of losing those stats felt relatively light.
Of course, this meant even grazing shrapnel could injure him—“paper body,” as they said.
“Let’s see it, then. I’m really curious what you look like.”
Like a boy given the robot he’d always wanted, Kang-hoo practically bounced as he summoned the Corrupted.
Dark Energy gathered from all directions, molding itself into a human silhouette before solidifying.
“Interesting.”
The Corrupted’s appearance fit the phrase “man in black.”
He looked like a black-clad martial artist out of a wuxia drama, hair falling to his shoulders.
Kang-hoo had worried he might be some grotesque—death knight, ghoul—but he looked clean.
A sword hung at his hip.
Most likely a formless blade condensed from Dark Energy—an ultra-compressed construct.
Facing him directly with a quiet gaze, the black-clad man listened as Kang-hoo asked with hopeful eyes:
“What’s your name?”
“Mumyeong.”
“Your speech is curt.”
“...It is.”
“Fast on feedback.”
Mumyeong. A simple, intuitive name.
It meant “nameless,” but it suited him as a proper name, given the look.
Even in this brief exchange, the posture and eyes told Kang-hoo that Mumyeong was polite by default—calm and composed.
In this configuration, unless spoken to first, he would likely remain quiet.
‘That suits me.’
He loathed chatterboxes who constantly buzzed at his side begging for attention.
“Mumyeong will devote himself wholly to his lord. Loyalty.”
“Good. A bit stiff, but I’ll get used to it. We’ll talk again later.”
“Yes.”
At Kang-hoo’s gesture,
Mumyeong thinned and dispersed. He vanished much faster than when he had first formed.
Unlike the Corrupted Ghost or Beast, the Corrupted’s summon/dissipation wasn’t instantaneous, so he’d have to account for that.
Used well, he could outperform the Ghost/Beast by orders of magnitude.
If need be, they could even fight as a pair.
Add Illusion Technique, Shadow Step, and Clone Technique, and the enemy would be facing a nightmare comp.
“With this, I’ve definitely powered up pre-departure. Nice.”
Feeling lighter, Kang-hoo prepared to step out.
His industrious master would be awake any minute, and he meant to offer morning greetings right on time.
Two hours later.
After breakfast and a final check, Kang-hoo’s party headed north.
Because North Korean territory teemed with Dark Energy-related monsters, he reviewed the skills he’d use often: from Credo of the Darklord (triples Dark Energy rewards), to Empathy – Plants, Focused Senses, and more.
There were many skills that paid off especially well in the North.
It was a happy problem deciding what to prioritize.
In the early stage of travel, there was little fighting.
Because Master K had pull over a wide area, things had been tidied in advance.
With Moon Hyeong-seo and Hwang Bo-hye regularly traveling north of Ground Zero, the monsters had thinned out.
So he had expected a smooth, peaceful transit with no combat.
Sooner than expected, Celestial Assassin gave the first “order.”
“Kang-hoo.”
“Yes, Master.”
“From here on, move without setting foot on bare earth. If you touch it even once, we return here.”
“Understood.”
He could have asked “Why?”, but he didn’t. There was always a reason for his master’s orders.
So he traveled using Leap, Sacred Leap, and Shadow Step aggressively.
There was less ground without dirt than he thought, so picking spots proved tricky.
Even after finding a good spot, judging the leap distance wasn’t always easy; care was required.
‘I think I know why Master ordered this. It’s a basic I’d been overlooking.’
Some ability-users filled specific areas with debuffs or traps.
The “bare earth” Master forbade symbolized such debuff/trap zones.
If he later faced a hunter with a similar ability, today’s training would matter a great deal.
‘As expected of Master.’
He never lost by heeding Celestial Assassin.
With that level of trust, he just had to do as told; the reason and purpose would reveal themselves in the process.
The training grew harder, though.
After “don’t step on earth,” came “don’t step on the ground at all.”
Then he pushed further: “travel without letting sunlight touch your clothes.”
The new conditions stacked atop the old, making it brutally hard.
The spatial constraints multiplied—he sometimes wondered how he was supposed to move at all.
But he found ways, met the conditions, and kept moving.
He had no complaints.
Battle didn’t always happen on his terms.
Drawing an enemy into favorable conditions was clever—but learning to adapt quickly to unfavorable ones was crucial too.
Perhaps because of that— the tougher the orders got, the more Kang-hoo felt his will to challenge sharpen.
He didn’t want to allow himself even the smallest mistake; his motivation hardened.
After a full two hours of finding ways to move under extreme constraints—long enough to forget what stepping on the ground felt like—
“Now begins the first training proper. Forest of Mists. A place that will drive you to your limits.”
“Forest of Mists.”
“Yes. A place where keeping your eyes wide open is utterly useless.”
Forest of Mists.
He had never heard the name.
Among the many North Korea teases scattered through the original, this place had never been mentioned.
A perfectly unknown world stood right before him.
And a damp, ominous forest scent already tickled his nose—together with an unsettling stillness.