At first, even Su-ho thought there was no answer.

In this situation where the blackest water had taken over everything, was there anything more he could do?

But he couldn’t give up.

No matter how desperate the situation was, he thought you absolutely must never give up.

So he raised his sword.

And he kept straining, desperately, to feel what he couldn’t feel.

That was when the miracle happened.

[ Dragon Sense is activated. ]

Dragon Sense.

That name he’d forgotten so completely.

It suddenly activated.

And the instant Dragon Sense activated, a golden wave rippled out, and his surroundings were drawn inside his head.

Like a bat surveying terrain with ultrasound.

And, right on timing, he wrapped himself in skills.

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Rage Mode is activated. ]

[ Foxfire is activated. ]

[ Sword Aura is activated. ]

[ Point is activated. ]

[ Enhance is activated. ]

Six skills combined once again.

And.

[ Hundred Strikes is activated. ]

Another attack that encompassed all of them activated once more.

[ Enhance is applied. ]

[ The power of Hundred Strikes becomes even stronger. ]

Kwagwagwagwagwak!!

A tremendous blast.

Paracondia, which had charged in like it had gone insane, hadn’t expected Su-ho to counter at all, so it didn’t take even the slightest defensive stance.

So the damage went in harder than before.

It was electrifying.

In the process of colliding with Paracondia, Su-ho seemed to get pushed back a little, but he didn’t get shoved back as much as before.

He’d already been through it once, so the second time he’d learned how to respond.

And all of that blended together into one # Nоvеlight # and drove a powerful hit into Paracondia.

Ppeooong!!

Paracondia couldn’t withstand Su-ho’s two decisive, all-in strikes, and at last, its head burst.

[ You have successfully defeated Deep-Sea Species Paracondia. ]

Its death.

What guaranteed it more than anything was the guarantee delivered by a system notice.

Su-ho felt his entire body turn electric.

And he realized once again.

No matter what a damn perverted bastard the system was, it still gave gates that a player could clear.

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

On top of that, he’d gained two levels.

'A monster giving me two levels.'

He laughed.

But paradoxically, that meant Paracondia was a deranged monster of that caliber.

Of course, the notices didn’t end there.

[ The Big Gate has been cleared. ]

[ The MVP of this Big Gate clear is ‘An Su-ho’. ]

[ Additional experience is granted for MVP selection. ]

[ 3 bonus stats are granted for MVP selection. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

......

System notices pouring down like it had gone insane.

Su-ho laughed when he saw them.

Because it was the same as back with Girard.

His level had risen by a full five.

'As expected of a Big Gate. The rewards are nice and juicy.' 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Just as the price for clearing a single gate, his level went up by five. Separate from killing the boss monster.

'For me, already past level 300, what reward could be sweeter than this?'

The world had become a place where it was hard enough just to find gates.

And to carry out the final trait quest, he had to reach level 400.

This really was a big reward.

The three bonus stats from being MVP were extra. And then—

[ You are the first human in history to clear Big Gates consecutively. ]

[ You have achieved an incredible feat that no other player has been able to accomplish. ]

[ Achievements are aggregated. ]

[ The system acknowledges your supreme achievements and gifts you 30 bonus stats. ]

'Yes!'

The bonus stats, which he’d worried might not be 지급 this time, were paid out nice and solid.

Then the final system notices appeared.

[ You have obtained the Rune of Deep-Sea Species Paracondia (S+). ]

[ ■■■ begins to take an interest in you. ]

[ You have succeeded in resolving the first special quest. ]

[ A second special quest is created. ]

Four lines of notices.

But Su-ho’s attention went not to Paracondia’s rune, nor to the special quest notice, but to the notice about a Transcendent.

Because last time, the moment he mastered Girard’s rune, it had said some Transcendent had begun to take an interest in him.

'With Girard, there were two Transcendent notices. After obtaining the rune, and after using the rune.'

The number of black squares that appeared in those two situations had clearly been different: two squares and three squares.

And this time, it was three black squares.

Then was this Transcendent the same one as back with Girard?

'No. If it were the same Transcendent, it wouldn’t say it’s beginning to take an interest—it would already be watching, so the wording would be different.'

Then by the circumstances, the Transcendent appearing now was highly likely to be a different one from the Girard time.

That was the end of the notices.

Then the blackest water and the black water that had filled the surroundings... no, going further, all the water began to drain away.

Little by little, his senses came back.

His vision came back, too.

Breathing became possible again.

“Suuuuup! Hwaaaah!”

The moment breathing became possible, Su-ho first sucked in air.

Refreshing.

Maybe it was in his head, but in this moment, the air here felt as fresh as a mountain full of phytoncides.

Around then, he could see Paracondia’s dead corpse too.

'It’s properly dead.'

It was really dead—its head blown apart.

Next to it, an exit portal that could take him outside was created.

“Before we go out, we’ve got things to do, Guiyeong.”

“Kkung!”

When he called Guiyeong, Guiyeong came bursting out, and for once, it even let out a cry.

Guess it takes at least a Big Gate-class boss for it to use its voice.

“Eat.”

“Kkung!!”

[ Guiyeong has begun devouring the shadow of Deep-Sea Species Paracondia. ]

When he tossed Paracondia to Guiyeong, it started tearing into the shadow deliciously.

Su-ho then checked the rune information for Paracondia.

[ Rune of Deep-Sea Species Paracondia ]

Grade: S+

# A rune containing the power of Deep-Sea Species Paracondia, one of the deep-sea species that live in the deep sea.

# When you use the Rune of Deep-Sea Species Paracondia, you will be able to use part of the power of Deep-Sea Species Paracondia.

# Not much is known about Deep-Sea Species Paracondia, aside from the fact that it is an ancient species that has lived in the deep sea for a very long time.

Su-ho slowly read through the information.

Then, narrowing his brow, he recalled Girard’s rune information through the Library of Memories.

[ Rune of Girard ]

Grade: S+

# A rune containing the power of Girard, who is called the ruler of the desert.

# When you use Girard’s rune, you will be able to inherit and use Girard’s power.

# Information about Girard is extremely limited, aside from the fact that he is related to ancient beings.

Item descriptions that looked similar.

But if you looked closely, the wording differed little by little.

'Girard says you inherit and use the power, but Paracondia says you can use part of it?'

And that wasn’t all.

Girard was labeled as having extremely limited information, while Paracondia said not much was known, and there was a certain amount of description written.

From this, there was one fact he could infer.

'They’re both S+ runes, but Paracondia feels like it’s a lower tier compared to Girard.'

No matter how you looked at it, it seemed that way.

Then is this safe to “eat”?

The wording “eat” felt a bit off, but anyway, in the case of Girard’s rune, because of that “ancient power” description, he hadn’t been able to digest it lightly.

But now that he had obtained both the Giant Body and the Fairy Body, it felt like he’d be fine absorbing anything.

'I’ll master this one step by step....'

Su-ho then brought up his Status Window.

[ An Su-ho ]

Lv: 310

Class: Blood Cardinal

Rank: Middle Player

Trait▲: ＜New Blood★＞＜Hercules▲＞＜King of a Fallen Nation＞＜Grid’s Partner＞＜Sun-Moon Body＞

Might (S): 8

True Mana (S): 115

Sense (P): 35

Command (N): 129

Bonus Stats: 40

The corner of Su-ho’s mouth lifted when he saw the Status Window.

Not only had he reached level 310 from clearing a single gate, he’d also obtained 40 bonus stats.

'Where do I invest this....'

A full forty.

After agonizing between Might and True Mana for quite a while, Su-ho surprisingly invested it into Sense.

'For now, it looks best to match all my stats to Silver rank.'

Even if he made Might into a Silver-rank stat, he didn’t gain any perks, but still, his level and overall power had risen this much, so rather than an overly skewed investment, he judged that a balanced distribution would be better.

Su-ho then activated the Blacksmith’s Eyes.

But unfortunately, he couldn’t obtain any harvesting information from Paracondia’s corpse.

'Did they block it on purpose?'

That was disappointing.

But it was fine.

Because the biggest reward, Paracondia’s rune, was already in his hands.

Around then, Guiyeong’s meal was finished too.

“Done eating?”

“Kkung!”

It came up to Su-ho and rubbed its body against him, like it had eaten its fill.

That was when—

[ Guiyeong has completely absorbed Girard’s shadow. ]

[ Guiyeong is strengthened. ]

[ Guiyeong evolves. ]

“Huh?”

At the sudden notice, Su-ho’s eyes widened.

Guiyeong’s evolution?

Don’t tell me...?

The notices kept coming.

[ Qualifications have been proven. ]

[ Guiyeong’s information changes. ]

[ Guiyeong has been strengthened to its maximum. ]

Notices in a row.

And at the same time, Guiyeong’s appearance changed.

First, its size doubled, and the grain of its neatly groomed fur rippled like a flame that was constantly burning.

But its distinct golden eyes and its pitch-black, Vantablack-like color remained the same.

“Damn... you got really cool, didn’t you?”

“Kkung!”

Thankfully, only its appearance had changed—its loyalty to its master was still there, unchanged.

'So this is the maximum growth cap?'

It was a form he’d never seen even in his previous life.

Well, it wasn’t anything else—it had eaten not one, but two shadows of Big Gate-class bosses, so of course there had to be a change.

'Two is more than enough to prove qualifications. Damn right.'

Anyway, they said the door would open once you proved the qualifications of the strong... Su-ho quickly checked its information.

[ Guiyeong ]

Grade: S+

# A shadow divine beast dwelling within the Guiyeong Spear.

# One of the Shadow Lord’s faithful shadows.

# It is influenced by its master’s mana.

# It has been strengthened to the maximum by devouring the dead shadows of the strong.

# You can summon the gate of the Shadow Realm.

“Finally!”

Guiyeong’s changed information.

Seeing the last line written there, Su-ho let out a cheer at the gate of qualifications that had finally opened.