[More chapters will be up tonight (6/23) Chapters 20+ were pretty exciting!]

16. Growth

Sunday. It was an amazing day to make even someone who had never held a ladle in their life become a chef.

Most of the time, people became hibernating bears instead of cooks, but Ko Byeong-gap was different. He woke up around 6 am.

There were many reasons for his early rise. First, he had to work since he had a day off yesterday, and second, he thought he should stop by his mother’s hospital after a long time.

… In fact, it was a secondary factor. Ko Byeong-gap was as excited as an elementary school student on the day of a picnic. That was the root cause of his long sleeplessness.

“Hahaha.”

With a sly smile, he looked at the three books by his bedside. They were items he bought at the Ancient Shop before he went to bed yesterday.

[Ancient Swordsmanship Textbook – Low-grade]

-Price: 320 modifications

-Description: A textbook dealing with ‘Swordsmanship – Low-grade’ among ancient techniques. It contains the swordsmanship of the ancient knights.

[Ancient Physical Training Textbook – Low-grade]

-Price: 320 Crystals

-Description: A textbook dealing with ‘Physical Training – Low-grade’ among ancient techniques. It contains the physical training techniques of the ancient knights.

[Ancient Ki-breathing Textbook – Low-grade]

-Price: 350 Crystals

-Description: A textbook dealing with ‘Ki-breathing – Low-grade’ among ancient techniques. It contains the unique breathing method of the ancient knights.

Three textbooks. He spent a total of 990 crystals in return.

[Crystals on Hand: 1,307]

When he deducted the growth potion and the textbooks he bought before bed, the remaining amount was 1,307 crystals. He had to save up on that a bit since he had a separate use for it.

The thick textbooks were made of parchment paper. Ko Byeong-gap couldn’t take his eyes off them and picked up the books.

Ko Byeong-gap was far from being a book person by any means. Therefore, he was hesitant to learn anything new. However, that time, it was different.

[Do you want to engrave ‘Ancient Swordsmanship Textbook – Low-grade’?]

When he opened the textbook, he couldn’t see its contents and only found a hologram. It was the same as the ‘Ancient Alchemy Textbook – Low-grade’ he found the night before.

“Of course.”

He said yes without hesitation. Suddenly, there was a scene that made him doubt his eyes. The parchment booklet was absorbed into Ko Byeong-gap’s body.

“Ugh!”

Ko Byeong-gap staggered with a grip on his forehead. It was the aftereffect of the vast knowledge flooding into his head. By analogy, it was like drinking 50 cups of coffee and smoking 100 cigarettes in a row.

He absorbed the ‘Ancient Alchemy Textbook – Low-grade’ yesterday and suffered from the aftereffects. So he put off the rest until that day since he thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise.

After about 5 minutes, the dizziness went away. He took advantage of the momentum and absorbed the other two textbooks.

[‘Ancient Swordsmanship Textbook – Low-grade’ has been engraved.]

[‘Ancient Martial Arts Textbook – Low-grade’ has been engraved.]

[‘Ancient Ki-breathing Textbook – Low-grade’ has been engraved.]

Information that didn’t exist until just a few minutes ago settled in the corner of his head. He felt like he was out of his mind.

“… A few more, and I’ll get a real mental illness. I should probably do it in moderation.”

Ko Byeong-gap left behind the reminder he thought of and started to wash his face. After he poured cold water on his face, his mind calmed down a bit.

He savored some of the knowledge terraforming in his head. That alone made his heart excited. He wanted to test it with his body right away and embody it, so he stared at his cell phone while cooking to find a suitable crack. He looked like a hungry hyena.

After he finished the meal, Ko Byeong-gap hurriedly got ready. He grabbed his supplies, got into the car, and quickly stepped on the accelerator. That day’s destination was Dongducheon.

“Let’s go smoothly, go smoothly.”

On Sundays, the crack competition rate was lower. Hunters were human too, so they wanted to rest on Sundays.

On the contrary, hobbyists who hunted as a hobby were more aggressive every weekend. Ko Byeong-gap prayed that an unfortunate incident like the last time wouldn’t happen that day.

Did he travel for an hour and a half? Ko Byeong-gap finally reached his destination. It was a closed school in a rural village about 40 minutes away from the city center.

-Avoid public access! Crack warning area!

Such banners hung everywhere.

Yes. Like cancer, in the same place every time, cracks also occurred, and there were many cases.

That school must’ve closed for that reason. On any day, the crack could’ve popped out, so it would’ve been impossible for them to operate.

The field, overgrown with weeds, was empty. That was a good sign.

After parking in a suitable place, Ko Byeong-gap approached the crack in the middle of the playground. As always, he began his subjugation with a cigarette. Ko Byeong-gap burned a cigarette and checked his equipment.

“Okay, we’re clear.”

He didn’t pack as much ammunition that day as he usually did. It was half the usual amount.

That day’s main focus was the sword, not the gun, and after everything was ready…

Ko Byeong-gap threw himself into the crack without hesitation.

* * *

The crack he visited that day was E-Rank.

Last time, he successfully cleared a D-Rank crack, but he didn’t achieve it on his own. It was only possible with the help of Goblins. So, that day’s subjugation was kind of an experiment.

Could he subdue an E-rank crack with a sword? If he could subdue it, was there anything better than using a gun? Would it work at a D-rank crack or higher? Would he be able to overcome the lower ranks?

After entering the Back World, he pulled out his sword. Unfortunately, the sword was in very poor condition. It had been neglected for a long time, and it had been used a few times recently.

The long sword he currently possessed was also forcibly sold by Kim Ah-jin. The quality was poor, and only the price was high.

The weapon used by the top hunters was basically tens of millions of won. The expensive ones cost hundreds of millions of won. As for Ko Byeong-gap, he couldn’t afford to buy such a thing. It was also an item that he didn’t really need as a low-level hunter in the first place.

“Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

A monster appeared in a small forest connected to the school fence. It was a Horned Wolf, which was also the standard monster for E-rank cracks.

Ko Byeong-gap tightened the holster for his gun so that his movement wasn’t uncomfortable. After that, he spitted once in his hand and grabbed his sword.

“Come on, you bastard.”

“Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

Nine Horned Wolves rushed at him in unison. Ko Byeong-gap’s eyes quickly captured their movements.

His head gave the command. Ko Byeong-gap followed the orders without hesitation.

The blade flashed and spread out in a flash. The neck of the Horned Wolf that attacked first flew away, and the Horned Wolf that ran after it split lengthwise. The third and fourth monsters died in one stroke and smashed the ground.

His body moved flexibly like an intangible wind. Before the corpse of the Horned Wolf that floated in the air could fall to the floor, his second attack took place.

Cross-cutting, longitudinal-cutting, stabbing. A series of light hits followed it. Three more Horned Wolves died.

As his sword passed once, blood splattered as if it were a natural law. The next two…

“Kra-la-la-ka-ge!”

Instead, he trampled the creature who was about to bite his leg and split its head.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his arm. The last Horned Wolf had bitten his forearm.

Ko Byeong-gap slammed his arm sternly. The Wolf plummeted to the ground. Before the bastard could come to its senses, his blade flew and split the Horned Wolf’s torso apart.

One minute… No, only 40 to 50 seconds. The time it took for the nine Horned Wolves to be annihilated wasn’t enough time to even cook a cup of noodles.

“Huh! Haha…”

There was an unbearable laugh that came out of Ko Byeong-gap’s mouth.

Oh my God!

That was revolutionary, pure and simple.

‘Isn’t this ridiculous?’

The textbooks in his mind. Their effectiveness was truly remarkable.

‘I haven’t fully embodied it yet, but it’s like this?’

The knowledge of the textbooks were simply ‘engraved’ in Ko Byeong-gap.

To compare it to mathematics, he had only mastered the principle of addition. However, an elementary school student who just learned addition was able to add three digits.

He had a number of supporting factors. His body was strengthened by the growth potions and the synergy between each textbook.

‘Now that I know swordsmanship, it feels like a joke that I’ve been bad at holding a sword in the past.”

Before learning swordsmanship, Ko Byeong-gap’s gestures weren’t much different from that of a child holding a baseball bat that hit a sandcastle on the beach.

He thought that a sword could do anything if he just held and swung it. However, that was a big mistake.

From the tip of the head to the tip of his foot, every part of the body had to be structured when conducting how to move. His body even decided when to tighten his sphincter to sync with the bluster.

The fantastic thing was that the martial arts or physical training textbook and the swordsmanship textbook interacted perfectly. Just by using swordsmanship, his body took care of training his body. So the more he moved, the more his muscles became tougher and stronger.

“Fufu.”

Ko Byeong-gap smiled with satisfaction and looked down at the arm bitten by the Horned Wolf. It was just that the skin was a little chapped.

‘If I were normal, it would’ve been normal to have one or two pieces of my flesh tattered, but maybe it’s because of the growth potion and the physical training?’

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

He constantly practiced the breathing method described in the ‘Ancient Ki-breathing Textbook.’ Something hot spread throughout the body.

It wasn’t long before the wound on his arm healed quickly. It was surprising, but to be honest, he couldn’t use it for a big wound.

“Is it worse than a potion?”‘

It was a pity, but if he asked for too much, he could become greedy.

“Some of you, come on out.” He said as he opened the door to Ashvilam, and then, three or four Normal Goblins appeared.

“Lord. Did you call us?”

“Take these and dismantle them. Gather and sort the leather, teeth, and magic stones accordingly. Do you understand?”

“Yes, understand.”

“Yeah, you pick up the meat and eat it.”

The Normal Goblins nodded and carried the Horned Wolves’ bodies into Ashvilam.

‘Now I know how comfortable it is.’

There was no need to dismantle the magic stones in the crack. Instead, he could throw them in Ashvilam and order the Goblins. If he did that, the speed of subjugation would also increase dramatically.

‘Because I was quiet, the monsters didn’t come.’

Even though there was a full-fledged battle, his surroundings were quiet. If he had fired a gun, they would’ve heard the sound, and more monsters would’ve flocked to him.

That was one of the few advantages of cold weapons and why top hunters didn’t use firearms.

Ko Byeong-gap walked slowly in search of the hidden monster.

* * *

“Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

An angry Rake Wolf. It attacked with its teeth, forelimbs, and two sharp tails.

Ko Byeong-gap faced him with a relaxed attitude.

The blade’s tail fell sharply down. Ko Byeong-gap raised his sword with all his might, and then, the Rake Wolf flew away with a ‘Zeng!’ sound.

Without missing the gap, Ko Byeong-gap rushed in and thrust the blade into its throat.

“Kiyaaaaaaaa! Kkkkk!”

The Rake Wolf struggled a few times, then soon dropped. Blood burst out from its open flesh.

‘There is no difference between F-class and E-class.’

It was easy.

At the last moment, he thought it might be a little dangerous when 18 monsters, including a Rake Wolf, came upon him at once. However, in terms of the results, all of them died at the hands of Ko Byeong-gap.

He looked down at his body. There were only a few minor wounds, but he was generally fine. It didn’t seem necessary to use a potion.

He threw all the monsters into Ashvilam and escaped the crack.

Tick!

The stopwatch on his wristwatch indicated the time he occupied.

57 minutes and 48 seconds.

It took less than an hour. Compared to hunting with the Goblins, he didn’t fall behind.

‘In the past, it was four hours at the earliest.’

Compared to before becoming the Goblin Lord, it was a huge reduction in time.

He burned a cigarette to commemorate his successful subjugation. He then prepared to go back home.

‘Now that we have gathered the ingredients, what shall we make?’

The corners of his mouth that bit his cigarette slowly rose.