I got into school for nothing - 10
I got into school for nothing (10)
Lesson 3. This is Your Pet - 2
After realizing that the Dokkaebi Club was an artifact that even beings from higher-ranked dimensions (though he still couldn't quite grasp what made them "higher-ranked" in the first place) marveled at, Ban Yuwon pondered how he could maximize the abilities of this artifact.
So, he began by neatly organizing the Dokkaebi Club's features.
Firstly, it could float and move freely.
It possessed a will and acted with the utmost priority of protecting its master.
It was invisible, unable to be seen.
‘This won't work as is.’
The conclusion was swift. While it was undeniably an excellent artifact for automatically protecting its master from unseen threats, at the end of the day, it was still just a transparent club.
Yes, that was it—versatility.
If this club, which could move freely and even possessed a will, also gained the versatility to adapt to diverse situations, wouldn’t it then be truly omnipotent?
‘So, all I need to do is make it capable of changing freely.’
Ban Yuwon searched for language concepts related to 'Change' (變) in his surroundings.
Thanks to his childish older sister, who had only now developed a taste for slimes and liquid monsters—long after their trend had passed—he easily managed to imbue the club with fifty concepts of 'Transformation' (變換).
He had tried to embed more, but a message indicating that the Dokkaebi Club couldn't handle concepts of excessive depth forced him to give up. In fact, fifty was quite a significant amount, owing to the excellent compatibility between the Dokkaebi Club and the concept of Transformation.
Dokkaebi Club [Demonic Energy 5.2, Storage 10, Transformation 50 (Blunt Weapon 11, Magic Gun 9, Spear 5, Chain 3, Axe 3, ......) Shooting 17]
After that, it was smooth sailing.
He fed the Dokkaebi Club concepts for shields, axes, spears, various types of guns, and all sorts of tools needed in emergencies, excluding only swords, which he intended to wield himself.
The major concepts alone exceeded thirty, with the rest requiring only a single point each since merely imitating their form was sufficient.
Their total sum couldn't surpass the Transformation's depth of fifty, but that was more than enough. In fact, he even had about five points remaining.
“Hmm, now this is truly worthy of being called a Dokkaebi Club.”
Returning from his reminiscence, Ban Yuwon nodded in satisfaction, gazing at the goblin horde sprawled on the ground, having received a baptism of magic bullets.
“Bullets? Enough?”
In response to Ban Yuwon’s check, the Dokkaebi Club, which had by then returned to its original form, vigorously swung its body, making a buzzing sound. Incidentally, ‘bullets’ referred to live ammunition. By plundering the concept of ‘Storage’ from various items, including the trunk his Grandfather Ban had brought, and imbuing it into the club, it had become capable of storing a considerable quantity of bullets on its own.
“Then, shall we harvest?”
Taking a deep breath, Ban Yuwon approached the pile of goblin corpses.
The club circled around Ban Yuwon, maintaining vigilance in case of an emergency. However, perhaps because a considerable number of goblins had already perished, or because the commotion had been too great, there was no sign of any other goblins approaching.
“There are some alive.”
“Kiiik, kiiiii...!”
Thanks to the deep concept of 'Shooting' plundered from the Slingshot that Pierced a Lion's Eye, the Dokkaebi Club's shooting ability was absolutely phenomenal. However, he couldn't individually seek out and deal with every goblin that had been randomly struck down by a stray magic bullet.
Ban Yuwon personally severed the lives of the surviving goblins.
To his own surprise, he felt no shock.
What truly astonished him was the moment he saw the golden string of characters flowing from their bodies.
[You plunder the concepts of Demonic Spirit 3.4, Life 6.8, Body 3.4, Murder 0.34, and Shooting 0.57 from multiple goblins.]
“Oh, ohh...?”
The concepts of Demonic Spirit, Life, and Body plundered from these goblins were, astonishingly, twice as potent as those from the Blind Goblins!
However, even more surprising were the concepts of Murder and Shooting.
These were concepts he hadn't obtained when hunting the previous Blind Goblins.
Shooting made sense, as it had no relation to the Blind Goblins, but what about the concept of Murder? Could it be that, unlike the Blind Goblins, these particular goblins had killed people in the past?
Of course, their depth was excessively low.
Even more so considering he had hunted seventeen goblins in one spot.
‘Perhaps before, the depth was too low to even register, but now that I've learned about these two concepts from other sources, I'm able to extract them.’
Acknowledging that there was still much to study about his own ability, he organized the plundered concepts.
Murder went entirely into his sword, and Shooting went into the Dokkaebi Club.
The Demonic Spirit extracted from seventeen monsters amounted to 3.4, and separating the 'Demon' concept from it yielded 1.7.
When he fully imbued that into the Dokkaebi Club, its Demonic Energy (귀기) grew to 6.
If he infused 1.7, why did it not even increase by half? That was because, firstly, the amount of 'Demon' (鬼) was small when the Dokkaebi Club was originally created, and secondly, the language concept of Demonic Energy (귀기) had poor absorption efficiency compared to other concepts.
But didn't they say those who start late finish strong?
If he continued to nurture it steadily, he would surely be able to create an artifact with not only immense potential but also incredible actual abilities!
[Life 21.3
Body 16.3
Mana 18]
With a single engagement, Ban Yuwon’s code changed significantly in an instant.
The concepts he had cultivated by training with his sister all night seemed insignificant in comparison.
Of course, this was thanks to leveraging the Dokkaebi Club to create an intersection between science (modern firearms) and magic (mana, Demonic Energy).
However, there was one thing that bothered him: the moment the concept of Life surpassed 20, the absorption efficiency for Life plundered from goblins was halved.
‘Still, I was prepared for this. In games, too, when your level gets high, the experience points you get from low-level monsters are cut in half.’
Yet, that period arrived faster than he expected.
The thought that he might soon be unable to gain experience (Life) from goblins made Ban Yuwon's heart grow somewhat anxious.
‘No, let's not jump to conclusions yet. I haven't caught many monsters anyway, just the Blind Goblins and these archers. Besides, even if I can’t get Life, there are many other concepts I can still obtain.’
He composed himself and plundered the concept of 'Bow' (弓) from the scattered bows on the floor and 'Arrow' (矢) from the arrows, storing them in his Code Core.
Since he now had a gun, he didn't foresee a need for a bow, so he decided to simply secure the concepts for later use.
“Then, shall we keep going? Just don’t shoot the gun unless it’s particularly dangerous.”
Bwoong! As if in reply to Ban Yuwon’s words, the Dokkaebi Club spun in a circle in the air.
Although he had secured a large quantity of live ammunition using his Grandfather Ban's connections, it was still an item with a clear quantitative limit.
There was no harm in conserving it.
‘I feel like I could probably create something with my own ability, but... let’s try that later.’
Ban Yuwon sent the Dokkaebi Club ahead and followed it, exploring the dungeon.
The onslaught of seventeen goblins must have been merely an opening event, as this dungeon typically featured two or three goblins moving together.
There were many goblins wielding bows, but occasionally, he encountered those with crude knives. When he spotted such groups, Ban Yuwon would command the Dokkaebi Club to prioritize the archers, only then engaging the knife-wielding goblins in one-on-one combat.
It was manageable.
No, more than that.
“Weak?”
“Kwe-ek!”
Ban Yuwon dodged the goblin’s recklessly charging blade, stepped forward, and extended his sword, piercing its neck and instantly killing it.
A wave of emptiness washed over him.
He had been incredibly tense, remembering the Goblin Warrior, the boss of the Blind Goblin Den, but this goblin's swordsmanship was utterly unworthy of being called a technique.
‘Is this the difference between a Warrior and a regular goblin?’
But when he absorbed its code, he found a Swordsmanship concept of 0.05!
This was something Ban Yuwon likely would never have obtained if he hadn't already understood swordsmanship.
Ban Yuwon absorbed it, with the mindset of collecting even the smallest dust motes.
“I guess we can move faster, right?”
—Bwoong!
Ban Yuwon increased his exploration speed even further.
Since the Dokkaebi Club was already blocking the front, realizing there was no need to be nervous around goblins lightened both his heart and his footsteps.
It was about five minutes later that he noticed the golden string of characters shimmering on the floor.
‘This...?’
Outwardly, there appeared to be nothing amiss.
But as he became aware of the string of characters and opened his eyes wide, an unnaturalness, different from the surrounding environment, became apparent.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but a dangerous feeling somehow permeated the area.
As he stretched out his hand, the end of the shimmering string of characters slowly unwound and touched his palm.
[Will you plunder the concepts of Skewer (串) and Trap (陷穽) from the Spike Trap?]
“Oh, wow.”
Ban Yuwon realized that if he hadn't seen the string of characters, he would have been skewered alive.
He urgently plundered the concept of Trap, and with the acquisition of Skewer 1 and Trap 1, the floor immediately flattened.
As the concepts of skewer and pit vanished, it reverted to an ordinary stone floor.
‘It was a mistake not to consider the existence of traps, but... I guess this can be called a blessing in disguise.’
The concept of 'Skewer' (串) or 'to pierce'.
Ban Yuwon immediately imbued the concept of Skewer into the sword he held in his hand.
He placed the Trap concept into his Code Core for now and hastened his steps.
There was no time to dawdle now that he realized he could detect and neutralize potential dangers in advance.
[Demonic Spirit 0.6, Life 1.2, Body 0.6, Murder 0.06, Swordsmanship 0.1, Shooting 0.3 absorbed.]
[Arrow 1.5, Trap 1 absorbed.]
[Demonic Spirit 1.5, Life 3, Body 1.5, Murder 0.15, Swordsmanship 0.2 absorbed.]
Ban Yuwon’s dungeon exploration speed grew faster and faster.
Compared to the Blind Goblin Den, where he had first undergone his practical evaluation—a dungeon with the weakest goblins—this dungeon was not only much longer but also featured ten times, easily more, the number of monsters. Yet, he was approaching the heart of the dungeon far more quickly than before!
He had been thinking of his peers, determined to grow quickly and catch up to them. However, if those very peers were to witness his current rate of growth, they would be utterly astounded.
He wasn't merely talking about the plundering of concepts due to his Authority.
Rather, in a more fundamental area, his overall combat techniques, including swordsmanship, were growing at an unbelievably fast rate with each battle he fought.
Combat, or more precisely, actual combat.
As life-and-death struggles were repeatedly waged, his potential gradually awakened faster, and his Authority caused concepts like swordsmanship to be added, harmonizing together.
‘Oh, collecting even dust motes really does make a difference. My sword’s trajectory feels much cleaner.’
Ban Yuwon himself firmly believed it was thanks to the swordsmanship he had plundered from the goblins. But what if he were to learn that the depth of swordsmanship he had developed himself in the same amount of time was deeper than what he had gained from those creatures?
“Arrived.”
Approximately two hours after entering the dungeon, Ban Yuwon finally reached the Boss Room.
Even in the Blind Goblin Den, which housed the weakest goblins, the Goblin Warrior boss had been powerful.
So, what about this dungeon, where goblin archers had greeted him the moment he entered?
He tensed firmly and, once again, reviewed his internal code.
[Life 35.5
Body 23.8
Soul 322.5
Mana 26.4
Swordsmanship 12.5
All-Reading Eyes 105
All-Hearing Ears 100
All-Speaking Lips 100]
His status had grown by almost 2.5 times compared to before entering this dungeon.
While this could also be proof that his level was still absurdly low, he chose to simply rejoice in the sheer magnitude of his growth.
‘Speaking of which, this 'Soul'... I really don’t understand it.’
It had been 300 when he first checked his code, increased by 20 when he endured the principal's eye attack, and somehow grew by 2.5 after he entered this dungeon, though he didn't know what he had done to cause it.
With no way to confirm that ability, he simply left it alone for now.
“Dokkaebi Club, ready?”
Bwoong.
The Dokkaebi Club, which had by then transformed into a large shield, rotated once in the air as if to say, "Just trust me."
Its core concept, Demonic Energy (귀기), had also grown to 9.9.
After clearing the boss, it would surely surpass 10.
“Then, let’s go in.”
He placed his hand on the iron door and pushed. The door slowly, slowly opened.
Just what kind of goblin would appear this time to become Ban Yuwon's blood and flesh?
“How dare a human invade our village!”
“Strike him down, kill him! Let’s roast him whole!”
“Catch him!”
Ban Yuwon paused, then tried to close the door and back away, but once it had begun to open, the door swung wide open on its own, even without his effort.
He now understood why they had mobbed him as soon as he entered the dungeon. The number of goblins in the Boss Room seemed to exceed 100, even with a rough count.
“Damn it.”
Ban Yuwon muttered softly, then pulled a shield from his inventory, placed it in front of him, and squatted down.
“Dokkaebi Club, I’m counting on you!”
Perhaps his true value lay not in combat, but in artifact creation.
Along with Ban Yuwon's regretful self-deprecation, the Dokkaebi Club once again breathed fire.
—Dudududududu
“No, not a machine gun! Bullets are precious!”
The problem was the sheer, overwhelming number of goblins.
Although the Dokkaebi Club had opened fire and instantly felled more than five goblins, there were still some that climbed over the corpses of their kin and charged at Ban Yuwon.
‘If I’m mixed in with them, at least I’ll be safe from the goblin archers’ fire,’ he thought, putting away his shield and standing up. As he met them with his sword, Ban Yuwon’s mind furiously raced.
‘Is there a way to make the shooting faster and more powerful without using a machine gun?’
Slashing goblins with his sword, dodging their attacks, and retreating, Ban Yuwon fiercely accelerated his thoughts.
What was it, what was it... That’s right!
‘Ferocious Beast (猛獸)! That’s what it was!’
It was one of the concepts slumbering within the Slingshot that Pierced a Lion's Eye, currently stored in his Code Core.
If he separated the 'Ferocious' (猛) character from it and combined it with 'Shoot' (射), it would create 'Ferocious Shot' (猛射), meaning to shoot fiercely.
He urgently pulled out the Code Core and extracted the concept from it.
There was no time, so he injected 'Ferocious Beast' whole into the Dokkaebi Club, which had flown near him at the perfect moment.
Then, separating 'Ferocious' (猛) and 'Beast' (獸)....
[Ferocious 4 and Shooting 18.35 are automatically synthesized. Due to excellent compatibility, a transcendental synthesis ignoring depth occurred, completing Ferocious Shot (猛射) 20. It is a perfect concept and cannot be separated again.]
He had actually wondered if he should separate the 'Shoot' (射) from 'Shooting', but it seemed 'Ferocious Shot' already encompassed the meaning of fierce shooting, so it combined entirely.
It was a blessing in disguise, as separating concepts also required considerable mental effort.
“!!!”
The moment the concept of Ferocious Shot was successfully synthesized.
The Dokkaebi Club, which should inherently be unable to speak, violently rotated in the air, expressing an overwhelming emotion.
No, it wasn't just emotion.
—Dududududu
With an unbelievably fast speed that was hard to believe came from something shaped like a rifle, combined with the accuracy only possible for a rifle, its Ferocious Shot instantly killed more than 30 goblins!
“Kuwaaaak!”
“Monster! It’s a monster spitting out chunks of iron!”
It was the moment the Dokkaebi Club, which had just moments ago been merely a formidable opponent capable of launching threatening attacks, was reborn as a monster that could face even 100 goblins simultaneously!
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