Dungeon Predator

Jet-black energy erupted from the demon sword, spreading in every direction like the gaunt branches of a tree in the winter.

A short while later...

The jet-black energy was sucked back into his blade.

Kang Oh examined the demon sword.

The demon sword, which was dark as night, had become a darker and more intricate color. Also, it had assumed a sawblade-like pattern as well.

"Appraise item."

[Demon Sword Ubist (Lv129/+2)]

The famed blade, Max Gemini, which was created by the renowned artisan, Max.

It contains the spirit of the King of Demonic Beasts and Abyss Predator, Ubist.

Darkness dwells within the blade, and the sawblade-like pattern is representative of Ubist's fangs.

Shares its level with its wielder.

Untradeable.

Upon death, there is a high chance that the demon sword either drops, or the wielder is controlled by the demon sword and becomes a monster for 24 hours. 

+ Predation: Consumes all items. When the sword is completely sated, the blade will become stronger and gain a special ability. 

[Satiation: 0.14%]

+ Gluttony: By consuming a BB-rank or higher item, all abilities are doubled for a fixed period of time and you enter Gluttony mode.  

Steals stats from fallen enemies while Gluttony is active. Useable once per day.

+ Abyss Blade: A jet-black blade made of darkness. It is capable of cutting those with an ethereal form like ghosts or spirits.

May absorb magic coming towards you once every 30 seconds. If magic is absorbed, satiation increases. (+1 reinforcement effect)

+ Fang Bearing Blade: You will occasionally land a critical hit, even if you don't strike at your opponent's wound, vital spot, or weakness. At this time, black shards will indicate the effect and your opponent's defense will be ignored. (+2 reinforcement effect)

Rank: SS

Abilities: Attack Power 276, Physical +65

Minimum Requirements: Clear the Trial of the Demon Sword

"Nice."

Kang Oh grinned, having perused the item information.

As expected, the demon sword never disappointed him.

Fang Bearing Blade!

It was an incredible ability that would allow him to land critical hits, even if he hadn't struck a wound, a vital spot, or a weakness. Not only that, but it even ignored the opponent's defense!

'I wonder how often it activates.'

Kang Oh's body tingled, excited to test the demon sword's new ability ASAP.

"Has the demon sword become stronger?" Eder asked from afar.

Once the demon sword began expelling energy, Eder felt a primal fear and had run far away from the sword.

Although he possessed a new body now, he was still fearful of the demon sword.

In a way, it was only natural.

His body had changed, not what was inside; he was still a soul that was controlling a body.

"Yeah. I got a great new ability too."

Kang Oh boastfully raised his sword up high.

Whereas Eder instinctively cowered.

"Mm."

As soon as he saw the reinforced demon sword, he recalled Kang Oh shoving the sword in his face and threatening him with it.

'He's gotten a lot nicer lately, but who knows when he'll go back to normal. I have to be careful.'

Eder engraved his policy 'Be wary of Kang Oh 24/7!' deep within his mind. 

At that moment, Kang Oh pointed the tip of his sword at Eder.

"Wanna take a look?"

Eder was completely shocked.

"N-No, I'm ok."

He desperately waved his hands.

Kang Oh could tell what Eder was thinking based on his reaction and expression.

"You rascal."

Kang Oh grinned and tied his sword to his back.

"Now then, let's go to the next building."

Kang Oh took the lead.

Eder didn't follow closely behind him like normal, and maintained some distance between them.

* * *

Building 4 was right next to Building 3.

It was shaped like a dome, so the layout was quite simple.

Upon entering the building, one would see a wide expanse of space and would be surrounded by walls.

That's it.

That's why there were so many players that stayed in one area of the building and waited for them to respawn.

"The Rorc Warrior has respawned."

"I'll aggro it."

A 'Rorc' was an artificial orc.

An orc possessed green skin, a pig nose, and teeth that protruded out of its mouth. They would either carry axes or clubs, and would live in a tribal environment; not to mention they were fat.

Although these Rorcs were otherwise carbon copies of orcs, they weren't fat at all. Rather, they were on the thin side, so they were much faster than normal orcs.

They were about level 110.

Rorc Warriors, Shamans, and Champions would appear in Building 4.

Kang Oh surveyed the inside of the building in its entirety. It was like a stadium or a gym.

"I don't think it's here..."

It was so simple that it didn't seem like there'd be a hidden dungeon here.

"Then shall we go to another building?" Eder asked.

"You never know, so let's go around once just in case."

"Alright."

Kang Oh and Eder avoided the players and began searching Building 4.

Of course, they didn't show any signs that they were looking for anything. Instead, they would act as though they were just passing by and glance sideways.

At that moment, a Rorc Champion respawned before Kang Oh.

Kuheong. Kuheong.

It snorted out of its pug nose, and swung downwards with its axe at Kang Oh.

Kang Oh responded immediately.

He turned his body to the side and the axe passed right by him.

Kang Oh simultaneously drew his demon sword and swung it.

Swish.

His blade slashed at its flank, and shards of light exploded from the cut.

Kuheoh!

The Rorc Champion withdrew its axe and swung it at Kang Oh once more.

Kang Oh ducked his head and dodged the axe.

At some point, Eder, who'd snuck behind the Rorc Champion, struck its back with his mace.

Bam!

The Rorc Champion's body shook.

Kang Oh swung diagonally.

Swish.

His sword cut the champion's chest, exploding in black shards.

The demon sword's special ability, Fang Bearing Blade had activated.

Kang Oh's hands tingled, which was exactly how he felt when he landed a critical hit.

Was it because he'd done a huge amount of damage all of a sudden?

Kuara!

The Rorc Champion roared and began haphazardly swinging its axe.

Kang Oh took two steps back.

Eder attacked the champion's back once more.

Heavy Blow!

Bang!

His mace created a small explosion upon impact.

The Rorc Champion turned around and aimed for Eder.

Clang!

Eder raised his shield and blocked its axe.

Kang Oh could see how exposed the Rorc Champion was from behind.

He kicked off the floor and swung downwards using the gravity and weight to his advantage.

Bam!

His sword struck the back of its head.

The force of impact caused the champion to shake, and it eventually fell flat on its face.

[You have defeated the artificial life form, Rorc.]

The Rorc Champion was barely a level 115 monster, so it wasn't strong enough to warrant a celebration.

Eder mechanically picked up the items that it dropped. It had dropped a junk item called Rorc's Tooth.

"Let's go."

"Alright."

It didn't take Kang Oh and Eder long to take a lap around the building.

* * *

Laboratory was a fitting word to describe Building 1.

There were various testing devices atop the worn out shelves. Of course, none of them worked properly anymore.

Also, there weren't any books on the shelf either. However, a few pages were strewn about on the ground.

Ugagaga.

A single monkey passed by them.

Of course, it wasn't an actual monkey. It was an artificial life form called a Kong and possessed four arms.

It was a level 50 monster that didn't aggro.

The Kong was so weak that if Kang Oh pushed it, it would just fall over and die.

Therefore, he didn't intend on hunting the Kong. It was much too weak!

Not only that, but several beginner alchemists were hunting here.

"Yahp!"

"Yaahp!"

One of the beginners swung a book and another swung their staff, and were fighting against a Kong.

By defeating an artificial life form, not only would junk items drop, but there would be a chance that they would drop alchemical materials as well.

Thus, there was no better place than this for low-leveled alchemists, as they gained experience and materials here.

Kang Oh left the beginners to their work and focused on looking for the hidden dungeon.

"Yawn."

Eder yawned. All they were doing was searching the buildings, so he was bored.

"It was so nice when Mr. Grano told us exactly where the hidden dungeon was."

Kang Oh suddenly missed Grano.

It felt like he'd been driving with the GPS, but then it suddenly turned off.

"Indeed," Eder agreed with him.

"Do you remember anything after walking around Kudal's Laboratory?" Kang Oh asked.

"Remember what?"

 Eder tilted his head.

"Is there anything that comes to mind from your reading?"

"No, nothing."

"Hmm. Let's finish up here first."

Building 1 was large and complex, but it didn't take as long as he expected to search the building because they didn't have to fight anything.

"Nothing. Next."

Kang Oh and Eder searched Building 2 next.

On the second floor, level 70 Gablins appeared. They were artificial goblins, and would attack on sight.

But they shared a trait with the Kongs; if you blew on them, they died.

Although they continuously fought against the Gablins, they weren't hindered by them in the least.

Kang Oh and Eder soon finished searching the entire building.

"Tch. Nothing here either."

With this, he'd confirmed that there weren't any hidden dungeons within Building 1, 2, 3, and 4.

"Now we have the other half left," Eder said.

They had to search buildings 5 - 8 next.

"Mm. Let's explore them tomorrow."

Because of the sheer size of Kudal's Laboratory, it was impossible to explore the entire dungeon in a single day.

"I'm leaving."

"Wait a minute! You haven't given me my pay."

Eder rubbed his hands together.

Kang Oh passed him 3 gold.

"Hehe," Eder laughed.

Thus, a day had passed by.  

* * *

The next day.

Jae Woo opened the door to the neighborhood cafe. Of course, there was only one reason to come to this cafe.

It was to meet with GBS Producer, Park Jin Cheol.

Jin Cheol was sitting at the table where they'd always meet, waiting for him.

"Over here."

Jin Cheol slightly raised his hand.

"Hello."

Jin Cheol and Jae Woo shook hands.

The two looked at each other and sat down.

Jae Woo began, "Why did you want to see me?"

He'd received a text from Jin Cheol asking him to meet in the morning.

"I just had a few things I needed to tell you about Oga's feature broadcast and Dungeon Conquering Man," Jin Cheol said.

"What about?"

"First off, we've finished editing Gladiator Oga's footage."

"Did it come out good?"

"It's amazing."

Jin Cheol's voice was overflowing with confidence.

"When will it be shown?"

"I'd like to show it the day before Dungeon Conquering Man."

He was essentially asking Jae Woo for his permission.

"Do as you please. Deciding when to show the footage is up to you."

As long as Jin Cheol paid him as promised, he didn't care when it was broadcast.

"I understand. And here."

Jin Cheol passed him a document.

"It's Dungeon Conquering Man's schedule. The back page contains info on your cast mates, as well as anything that might have been changed. The last page is a list of all the dungeons we've selected."

"This is the final draft, right?"

"Yes. There won't be any huge changes, so long as the cast doesn't cause or get in trouble," Jin Cheol smiled and said.

Jae Woo sifted through the documents.

"We'll start shooting in a week."

"Yes. We're already gotten everything ready."

Jae Woo nodded his head and returned the documents to him.

'Me and Soo Ah. Then there's Fortune's (girl group) Yoon Sehwa and the Jairus Guild's Wild Sword? Park Bae Shik is making an appearance again, but they've changed his partner.'

Jae Woo roughly scanned the cast list and then perused the last page with the list of dungeons.

The dungeons were ordered sequentially from the level 1 dungeons to the level 5 dungeons.

'I can clear the level 1 and 2 dungeons with my eyes closed.'

The level 1 and 2 dungeons were easy; they were basically warm-ups.

'But the level 5 dungeon is...'

Jae Woo, having seen the name of the level 5 dungeon, slightly widened his eyes.

"Interesting, so this is the level 5 dungeon."

This was written in the level 5 dungeon's section.

[Tarnatose Prison - Jailbreak Quest]