Hyunseok suddenly shot up to his feet.
"Normal Mode? Who?"
"Me!"
"What?"
"I've entered Normal Mode!"
Jongwon, unable to contain his excitement, was practically spitting as he explained. Transitioning from Easy Mode to Normal Mode had brought several changes, most notably, the creation of an Inventory, as well as the activation of H/P and M/P. On top of that, new information slots had been added to the stat window: Attack Power and Defense.
These were, more or less, expected changes. The Slayer System was operating almost identically to an online RPG, so people had already speculated about such additions.
But there was one change that few had anticipated.
"So… you're saying… Warrior of Lightning?"
Hyunseok snorted, then quickly grew serious again.
Knowing why Hyunseok had laughed, Jongwon hurried to clarify, "I didn't name it myself! The system gave me that title, okay? It literally says Warrior of Lightning."
According to the notification, he had been the very first Slayer to advance from Easy Mode to Normal Mode. Because of that, he'd received a special reward and was recognized with a special achievement, a Special Class.
Hyunseok swallowed dryly.
"A Special Class, huh…"
"Which means there must also be Regular Classes."
In other words, the System differentiated between Regular Classes and Hidden or Special Classes, much like games did.
Hyunseok fell into thought.
If 'Warrior of Lightning' is a Special Class… then does that mean the Regular Class is just 'Warrior'?
The truth wasn't clear yet. For now, Jongwon was the only one who had crossed into Normal Mode, so there were no other examples for comparison. Still, Hyunseok could guess.
"How much Strength do you have right now?"
"Me? Officially, the world record is 72. But the real number is 82."
According to Jongwon, raising stats was normally extremely difficult. But tagging along with Hyunseok had let him accumulate 'Achievements.'
Achievements weren't easy to get. Unless someone had cheat-like stats like Hyunseok, they were brutally hard. After all, they weren't called Achievements for nothing.
There weren't many dungeons in the world that were recognized as easy achievements. In Korea, only 19 had ever been discovered, and most of those had already been cleared by Hyunseok. Aside from that, there wasn't much else that counted as achievement-worthy.
Hyunseok was unique. By clearing so many, he accumulated ridiculous amounts of bonus stats. Jongwon, being at his side, had shared in those rewards. He officially reported his Strength as 72, and that record had yet to be broken. The very fact that such bonus stats were this rare proved just how absurdly hard they were to gain.
Hyunseok remarked,
"It looks like classes are determined based on how you distribute your stats. You basically dumped everything into Strength, aside from the very beginning, right?"
"Of course. Strength rules in close combat."
In general, melee combat Slayers fell into four categories:
Balanced Power Type — Raising Strength primarily, but mixing in Agility for decent evasion and mobility. The most common type.Agility-Focused Type — Raising Agility primarily, with some Strength for damage. They relied on speed, dodging, and disruption tactics to confuse monsters. For example, Lee Chaerim, who once formed a temporary guild with Hyunseok, fit this type.Endurance Type — Raising Stamina heavily to maximize durability. But it was risky, inefficient, and nearly extinct.Full Strength Type — All-in on Strength. They allowed themselves to take one or two hits in exchange for delivering devastating single strikes.
This fourth type was the most avoided. Without H/P, death was too likely.
But Jongwon shrugged.
"My judgment was right. Now that H/P is active, I can see when I'm about to die. All I have to do is tank through and smash everything. Easy."
Hyunseok smirked.
"And how long can you even hold your Battle Field open?"
That was the problem. Jongwon's Battle Field time had drastically decreased. His Battle Field had reached skill level 4. Back at level 1, it lasted three minutes. Now, the range had expanded, but the duration was under thirty seconds.
It was like having a stronger skill but not enough M/P to use it fully.
Jongwon grinned.
"That's why I've got Minseo, right? As long as she's around, I'm fine."
He chuckled as if it were nothing.
Minseo, unlike him, had raised Intelligence primarily, but had also put some into Agility, mostly because Hyunseok had pushed her to, as a safety measure.
Hyunseok asked,
"So how did you actually enter Normal Mode?"
"A quest popped up."
"A quest?"
Hyunseok tilted his head. He had never received one. In his case, he'd been forcibly shifted from Tutorial to Easy Mode due to his absurd stats.
But Jongwon had gotten a Normal Mode Entry Quest.
"Yeah. Collect ten Orc hides, three Green Stones, five Twin-Head Orc clubs, and kill thirty Orcs. Pretty straightforward. Oh, and the kills were retroactively recognized."
"Retroactively?"
"Remember when we hunted Orcs together? Technically, the system counted those too. So the quest was completed instantly the moment it appeared."
"…That's broken."
Hyunseok glared at him.
Broken, he'd said. Coming from Hyunseok, of all people, that was rich.
Still, Hyunseok's face grew sharp.
"Wait a second. You didn't have three Green Stones."
Jongwon froze.
"Battle Field: Open."
In an instant, Hyunseok vanished from where he was and reappeared at the door, blocking it. He was the only Slayer with Intelligence over 100, capable of opening his Battle Field at will.
He grinned slyly.
"Don't tell me you swiped them from Minseo."
Bingo.
Jongwon's face went pale.
"Y-you bastard! Using that against a defenseless civilian?!"
Coming from Korea's strongest Slayer, number two in the Union, newly promoted to Special Class Warrior of Lightning, that was a pitiful excuse.
"Pathetic. You steal from me, and then act like it's nothing?"
"Like you never stole! Don't you remember stealing my underwear when we were kids? You said friends share everything!"
"That was underwear, not Green Stones!"
"What's the difference?! It was, what, ten years ago? And besides, if you'd just picked up my call, I wouldn't have had to!"
Embarrassed, Jongwon stormed out. Hyunseok just chuckled as he watched him leave.
So that's why he randomly transferred me 500 million won earlier.
The text notification had come in just before. Now Jongwon yelled from far down the hall:
"Oh, right! I deposited 500 million! Check it later!"
Hyunseok shook his head, laughing.
Others might scorn Jongwon as reckless or naive. But to them, this was normal.
If word of this ever leaked, people would roast us alive. But honestly… they just don't get it. People without true friends can't understand.
Still, Hyunseok's thoughts grew heavy.
Soon, other Slayers will start entering Normal Mode as well.
Everything so far had begun in Korea. Coincidence or not, that was the reality.
Does this mean Easy Mode has reached its limit?
The current dungeons weren't particularly deadly. With time and effort, they were clearable. For Hyunseok, they were practically trivial.
The System seemed to scale Achievements based on repetition and thresholds, 10, 30, 100, and so on. Just yesterday, Hyunseok had cleared a dungeon instantly and been rewarded.
But something had changed.
[Impossible Achievement Accomplished.]
[Reward: Bonus Stats +50.]
[Penalty: 50% deducted due to Easy Mode restrictions.]
That was normal.
But then,
[Impossible Achievement accomplished 10 times.]
[Recognized as another Impossible Achievement.]
[Reward: Bonus Stats +100.]
[Penalty: 50% deducted due to Easy Mode restrictions.]
[Title Acquired: Pathfinder of the Impossible.]
Hyunseok had confirmed it.
The Slayer System recognized not only feats, but patterns and numbers. Achievements stacked when certain conditions were met.
That was fine. But the next message chilled him.
[Achievement System can no longer be applied.]
The only way he had left to grow, was gone.
So this is the end of Easy Mode. If I want to keep getting stronger, I'll have to force my way into a higher Mode.
He hadn't cared about becoming a Slayer at first. But now, the thought of being capped gnawed at him.
So what's left for me now… Forced Transition.
He didn't know the exact conditions. But his gut told him, maybe if he pushed his stats past 200… or 300.
Then something else hit him.
"Wait… there was also a new title."
Opening his status window, Hyunseok froze.
His jaw dropped.
"Wh—What the hell is this?!"
Even for someone like him, it was cheat-like beyond reason.
(End of Chapter 22)
Read more on "novelshub.org"
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed the chapter, please take a moment to rate it on NU, your support means a lot!