"What... the hell is this?"
Jeonghyeon blinked in confusion, opening and closing his Status Window over and over, but nothing changed.
The Attribute Liberation gauge hadn't budged from 0%.
"I killed that many, though?"
He shook his head, refusing to believe it.
"Ah, maybe goblins are too low-level for me? Do I need at least E-rank?"
Considering Malekith's twisted sense of humor—betting lives on jokes—it made sense. Just to check, Jeonghyeon wondered if the foes were too weak and charged into hob goblin territory.
"Hey there?"
"Kik!?"
A group of hob goblins, merrily roasting rabbits they'd caught, dropped their meat and stared up at him.
"Kieek...!?"
Jeonghyeon strode into their makeshift hideout—cobbled from natural cover—like he was visiting a buddy's place.
"Oh, having dinner? Look, the goblins I killed earlier were too low-rank, so no level-up. That's why I'm here."
His casual approach threw the hob goblins into cognitive dissonance. Jeonghyeon kept up his bright smile, drawing his harvesting knife.
"Sorry, but you're gonna have to die for me."
"?!?"
Stab. Slice. Thrust.
With brutally efficient moves, the hob goblins became fertilizer.
Eyes blazing, Jeonghyeon started with that group and bagged over forty by rough count.
F-rank hunters hunting hob goblins—who clustered in threes or fours—needed three people for hours of bloody combat to barely win. A single E-rank would struggle hard.
But Jeonghyeon took down over forty. Plus more than fifty goblins. A haul that'd take a regular F-rank a full week? He did it in a day.
Of course, he took breaks when tired, so evening crept in.
So what if I'm worn out? I'll get the power anyway.
Brimming with anticipation, Jeonghyeon eagerly opened his Status Window.
"Phew. It has to be up now!"
Rusty Harvesting Knife
Attribute: Iron Weapon
Attribute Liberation: 0%
"..."
Like a third-rate comedy skit, Jeonghyeon rubbed his eyes. He scrubbed his right eye—the one with the Demon King's power—especially hard.
Am I seeing this wrong?
Still no change.
"No... way!"
He couldn't hold back his rage, hurling the harvesting knife into the dirt.
"Fuck! Do you know how hard I ran to kill these goblin shits?!"
Not some balrog or grand beast like Argos—just goblins. Sweating buckets for them, and no reward?
Okay, fine, no reward happens. It could.
That wasn't why he was pissed.
"If I don't know my awakening power, I have to go back to that shithole porter dorm!!"
He tore at his hair, howling. His precious follicles suffered, but fury burned hotter.
"Power...! Power...!!"
Like he'd said at the field entrance, third-rate awakeners who couldn't pass inspection proved their abilities with tests at the Seoul Central Awakener Association for official hunter registration.
They checked stamina, combat, monster knowledge. Jeonghyeon—who'd reached the Demon King in his past life—would ace it.
But without knowing his power, he had nothing to show.
Back to the "shithole" porter dorm.
"That means... another day. Fuck...!"
Better to bleed out in 24-hour Demon King castle fights than return there.
"That money stink, shit stink, sweat stink, and those asshole team leads working us like dogs till bedtime...!"
Muttering, he started denying reality.
"Hey, you didn't die, right? Playing dead? That's why, huh?"
Poking hob goblin corpses, a spear rolled from one's arm.
Goblins' short stature meant short spears, but Jeonghyeon picked it up.
"Attribute Disruption."
Hob Goblin Spear
Attribute: Iron Weapon
Attribute Liberation: 13%
"What...?"
Why 13% on this, but his knife still 0%?
Jeonghyeon slumped, pondering.
Too late to run like a mad dog. If no proof before night, better head back early.
Late return meant no dinner in that dogshit place.
"What's the difference? Why?"
He drew his harvesting knife, comparing to the spear.
"Both iron weapons... others not visible at low level, maybe..."
Then the names caught his eye.
Spear vs. harvesting knife. Maybe use based on weapon type?
He cast Attribute Disruption on nearby hob goblin weapons.
One-hand sword, recurve bow—all named. Two proved his theory: Hob Goblin Glaive (one-sided blade for slashing) and Hob Goblin Short Spear (shorter, faster thrust).
"Even same weapon type, different names..."
He gripped his knife again.
Rusty Harvesting Knife
He jammed it into a hob goblin corpse.
Harvesting knife's purpose: "harvesting"—extracting mana stones from monster bodies.
Mana stones made fields and hunters profitable. Value varied by rank, variant. Porters' role? Obvious.
Botch one, value halves. Hence specialized harvesting knives.
So, harvesting knife levels via harvesting.
That was his hypothesis.
Jeonghyeon sliced hide, slid along muscle grain like a pro.
"Back in my porter days, I was kinda famous, y'know~!"
For "cleanest mana stones ever—slow as fuck, though."
But now I control my body perfectly.
Post-awakening in his past life, he'd mastered anatomy. Memorized structures of hob goblins and countless monsters.
Mobilizing experience, memory, knowledge, he extracted fast.
Perfect mana stone—no gram lost, no flesh.
"Nice. Top F-rank price for this."
Self-impressed, he stowed it in his porter inventory.
Excited face on, he checked the knife.
"Attribute Disruption!"
Rusty Harvesting Knife
Attribute: Iron Weapon
Attribute Liberation: 8%
Finally!
"Fucking Eureka!!!"
He got it. Figured it out.
"Right—use the weapon right, and Attribute Liberation rises?"
Grin uncontainable.
Arms blood-splattered, knife dripping, right eye flashing red.
Anyone seeing him: demonic butcher.
Cackling madly, he turned back, muttering along the goblin- and hob goblin-strewn path.
"I'll dismantle every last one."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Quick and clean.
Extracting mana stones from goblins was easy.
"Porter life ended long ago, but..."
Jeonghyeon was talented, but worked hardest. He'd classified every monster he'd faced, dissected external/internal for data.
Now, a monster anatomist.
"Good to use this knowledge somehow."
Reverse-gripped knife danced; clean mana stone popped out.
By the time he backtracked fully, inventory brimmed with stones.
"Lemme see—fifteen years before I died... mana stones should be pricey."
Hunters and awakeners rising would crash prices later. Now? He could cash in big.
Don't dawdle—Kim Kwonseok shows up in five years, monopolizes with mana stone weapons.
That fucker hated me, so no mana stone gear for me.
Not this time. Hustle.
Finishing the last, he cast again.
Rusty Harvesting Knife
Attribute: Iron Weapon
Attribute Liberation: 120% (Level at max.)
"Oho."
First gave 8%; later ones dwindled to 0.5%—annoying grind.
"120% max? So what now?"
He twirled the rusted-to-hell knife.
No visible magic.
"Quest!"
Red Status Window rippled open.
⚡ QUEST ⚡
Achieve 100% Attribute Liberation.
No hints.
"Unlock command? Attribute Liberation!"
Instant agony burned in his right eye.
"Gah! What...?!"
Pain raced like a living thing down optic nerve, arm, to knife—like forced absorption.
Pain shifted fully to knife, then vanished. Eye fine, vision normal.
"What changed?"
Disappointed at first—then the blade turned blood-red.
Quest complete message followed.
✅ QUEST COMPLETE ✅
'Achieve 100% Attribute Liberation' completed.
Reward: Attribute Disruption → Level 3
Bonus: Next quest unlocked.
⚡ NEW QUEST ⚡
Liberate attributes of 3 weapons. (1/3)
Reward: Attribute Disruption level-up, Attribute Insight, ???
"Thought it was nothing—got a lot, huh."
Quests later. Level-up effects secondary.
What did the liberated knife do?
He disrupted its new attributes.
🗡 Blood Dissector (Harvesting Knife) 🗡
Attribute:Epic Weapon
Attribute Liberation: 120%
Info changed.
His eyes locked on the attribute line.
"Epic... Weapon?"
An Epic Weapon.