As Joo-Hee finished reminiscing about the distant past, a long sigh slipped through her lips.
"The other hunter I met earlier should be together by now… Ryu Minsoo and the others."
She could only hope they were safe. She had wanted them to join her, to stand together. But this quest was merciless.
The sheer number of enemies, the overwhelming odds, and the unforgiving timer, it wasn't a trial meant for a group, especially not one filled with wounded, low-rank hunters.They would only slow her down… or worse, die because of her.
Shaking her head, she dispelled the thought and focused her gaze.
Her eyes turned toward the status window.
_______________________
[Sage Enlightenment System V.2.0]
.
Name: Lee Joo-Hee (Jake Garcia)
Class: Sage of Eternal Leaf
Title: None
.
Level: 14 (1,269/1,600)
HP: 561/800
MP: 1,892/3,000
.
[ Stats ]
[ Skills ]
[ Quests (+1) ]
[ Notifications ]
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Basic Stats:
— Strength [42/100]
— Dexterity [41/100]
— Vitality [56/100]
— Magic Power [100/100]
— Intelligence [74/100]
— Wisdom [81/100]
— [Available Slot]
— [Available Slot]
.
— Available Stat Points: 55
_______________________
Basic Skills:
— Healing Touch (Skill Level 7 - 34%)
Amplified healing abilities, allowing for rapid recovery of wounds and ailments.
— Verdant Growth (Skill Level 7 - 79%)
Manipulation of plants and nature, enabling the user to control and accelerate plant growth.
— Nature's Embrace (Skill Level 6 - 21%)
A protective barrier formed from natural energy, capable of shielding the user and others from harm.
— Basic Swordsmanship (Skill Level 6 - 11%)
Fundamentals of sword fighting, focusing on precision and control.
— Basic Meditation (Skill Level 7 - 29%)
Enhances the user's ability to sense and manipulate internal mana, aiding in the recovery of magic power and increasing the effectiveness of other mana-based skills.
— Haste (Skill Level 3 - 9%)
Temporarily enhances the user's movement and reflexes. Increases running speed and shortens reaction time.
— Nature Resonance (Skill Level 3 - 0%)
Allows the user to connect with nearby natural elements to detect vibrations, movements, or the presence of life forms.
— Strength Buff (Skill Level 2 - 32%)
Temporarily increases the user's physical strength. Enhances striking power and the effectiveness of melee attacks for a short duration.
— Tree Climbing (Skill Level 1 - 79%)
Enables the user to swiftly and efficiently scale trees or similar vertical surfaces. Improves balance and grip.
— Basic Archery (Skill Level 2 - 42%)
Provides fundamental knowledge of bow usage, including aiming, posture, and firing techniques. Enhances accuracy and draw speed with continued use.
— Sprint (Skill Level 2 - 91%)
Boosts the user's short-distance running speed. Best used for rapid dashes, escapes, or closing the distance between targets. Consumes stamina during activation.
.
Origin Skill:
— Fragmented Tongue of Babel [???] (Skill Level 1 - 1.89%):
Grants the ability to understand and speak all languages known under the heavens upon hearing them once. This includes ancient, forgotten, and even mystical tongues, enabling seamless communication with any being. This is an incomplete inheritance.
_______________________
She had already come a long way from the moment she first stepped foot into this world, [Kinobgral].
At first, every encounter had been a gamble with death. Her strikes were hesitant, her techniques were inadequate.
But now… she had already grown stronger. Faster. Sharper.
She no longer hesitated when facing groups of goblins, whether it was seven, ten, or even twelve at once.
She had learned how they moved, how they reacted to threats, and how they died. Her strategies had evolved as her combat rhythm honed through battle and blood.
Through constant trial and near-fatal error, she had awakened new abilities.
Skills born out of desperation and discovery—[Nature Resonance], [Tree Climbing], [Basic Archery], and [Sprint].
And then, like a ghost of the past reaching from within her soul, two of the original Joo-Hee's innate abilities had returned, [Haste] and [Strength Buff].
It was familiar enough to make her heart ache with the memory of a healer who once believed 'she' was too weak and scared to stand alone.
She clenched her fists and said through gritted teeth, "Sigh... I've come all this way… but it's still not enough."
Her voice trembled, not from weakness, but from the mounting pressure of it all. Her eyes narrowed as she looked around at the forest battlefield littered with goblin corpses and the faint, fading glow of her own mana.
"Isn't it funny…"
"How I now pity Joo-Hee and the other hunters, for being born into this world. This version of Earth…" she glanced at the reddened sky above, "…is even crueler than the one I came from."
She recalled her own world, where cruelty came from people, from poverty, from powerlessness.
But here, cruelty was baked into the very system. Dungeons that tear people from their lives. Monsters that never sleep. A system that rewards survival but not humanity.
"If the author of that novel knew what his story became... that his fantasy… would kill millions of people…"
She paused.
"How absurd that would be."
She chuckled weakly, though no joy was found in her tone. Just bitterness.
The pain in her muscles. The sticky blood clinging to her skin. The overwhelming stench of death.
And the numbers, the cold, merciless numbers—9,700 goblins to go.
She looked at her hands, calloused and cracked. Hands that once trembled holding a blade now struck without hesitation. She didn't know whether that was strength or something far worse.
She now had to admit the truth she'd been avoiding.
If she kept trying to preserve her trump cards for later, there would be no later.
"I didn't want to use it yet… in case something worse came after this."
"But if I don't push now, I won't even survive to see it..."
Joo-Hee waved her hand, closing the system panels one by one, starting with the [Main Panel], [Quest Log], and [Skill Info] until only the [Stat Panel] remained in front of her.
Her eyes honed in on the available stat points, digits glowing faintly in the forest's dim hue.
"Alright… let's burn this first," she muttered under her breath.
Her thoughts raced, tinged with hesitation, but deep down, she already knew what needed to be done. Increasing [Strength] or [Vitality] might boost her chances of survival in a direct fight.
But it wouldn't address the real bottleneck: her mana efficiency, spell potency, and the sluggish pace of skill proficiency growth.
Her greatest weapon wasn't her physical resilience—it was her command over nature, her magic.
If she wanted to survive and grow, she had to push that advantage as far as it would go.
Her voice was quiet, determined, as she tapped the stat panel and began swiping upward. With each increase, a wave washed over her.
First clarity, then understanding, and finally, awareness.
It was a breathtaking experience, so much so that her hand refused to stop. She kept swiping, pouring points into two key stats without hesitation.
The veins along her temple began to bulge. Her thoughts raced, her mind buzzing with ideas forming faster than she could catch them.
But it came at a price.
Her temples throbbed. Veins bulged slightly at the side of her head as her brain tried to adjust to the influx of processing. She gritted her teeth through the brief euphoric ache, a sharp tension between power and strain.
And then, something shifted.
A calm washed over her. Her senses sharpened. Her awareness expanded.
She became still, yet deeply alert like a predator poised to strike or a sage stepping into enlightenment.
Then came two red notifications:
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[Intelligence (74 → 100) has reached a bottleneck.]
[Basic Stat Evolution Quest (Intelligence) is now available.]
[Wisdom (81 → 100) has reached a bottleneck.]
[Basic Stat Evolution Quest (Wisdom) is now available.]
_______________________
A ripple of mental clarity cascaded through her body. Her spine straightened involuntarily. The world around her shimmered and seemed to slow, as if everything around her became nonexistent and clear beyond reason.
Joo-Hee slowly opened and closed her hand, observing the minute tension of tendons, the flex of each joint, how the muscle fibers responded with pinpoint precision.
"This is… very fascinating."
Every motion now felt calculated, measured, as if she were no longer merely moving a body but commanding a perfect medium.
"Well, this just means that I was right to focus on Intelligence and Wisdom…" she muttered, her voice calm, eerily steady.
"Even my mind is weirdly clear, as if this entire dungeon, no, this entire world… is no longer a threat."
But something felt off.
This level of clarity wasn't just mental—it was spiritual, almost alien. Her thoughts no longer wavered with countless stresses and overwhelming thoughts.
"But this… it feels rather too odd. It's like I'm touching a state where my mind is no longer that of a human."
She stared at her reflection on a small patch of water pooling on a bloodied leaf. The eyes that stared back weren't the same eyes that entered this dungeon.
They were sharper, still, yet powerful.
Her gaze lowered toward her nearby small bag.
"Now I wonder…" she whispered, "…what will happen if I use the Ticket?"
But she held off.
Too soon. Too dangerous. Not now.
Instead, she redirected her attention to the final 10 stat points still available.
"Next, let's give this body what it needs."
With one last tap, she funneled all 10 points into [Vitality].
And the result was instantaneous.
A burst of pure, radiant life energy flooded her veins, like a thousand volts of electricity coursing through her system. Her heart pounded—not in panic, but in rejuvenation.
Her lungs expanded as if tasting pure oxygen for the first time. Every wound sealed faster. Every ache faded.
She staggered slightly from the sudden surge, then exhaled long and slow.
She looked back once more before planning to leave.
The corpses of goblins lay still, unmoving, silent. Their essence stones in their body remained untouched.
She clenched her jaw with a flicker of regret.
"What a total waste... If only I had an inventory, then I would have brought them with me."
"But, if I were to do that, it would only slow me down."
She sighed, turned her back, and walked away, her footsteps silent over the moss and soil.
"I need to find somewhere barren… before the next wave comes."
And with that, Joo-Hee disappeared into the woods, her body rejuvenated, her mind renewed, and the path ahead uncertain but no longer overwhelming.