It was as if the game had been updated.
Just when the Normal Mode seemed to be getting into full swing, another new system appeared, the Item Shop.
It wasn't like in a game where one had to visit a shop physically.
A Slayer could designate up to three specific spots as Item Shop locations, and activate the shop within those spots.
Hyunseok tilted his head.
"So even Item Shops are restricted for me? There wasn't anything about that in the system notice…"
However, his Item Shop didn't activate.
Even though he had forcibly transitioned into Normal Mode, he was a Normal Mode Slayer now, yet the shop wouldn't open. That was a bit disappointing.
"When will it unlock?"
Just as he was wondering, a notification sound rang out.
[Judgment complete.]
Judgment complete?
He frowned, puzzled, when another cascade of system messages followed.
[Item Shop activated.]
['Impossible Achievement x10' from Easy Mode confirmed.]
[Spot restrictions removed.]
[Title 'Pioneer of the Impossible' confirmed.]
[Title above standard +1 rank confirmed.]
[Title above standard +2 rank confirmed.]
[Requesting approval for Special-Rank Slayer.]
A barrage of notifications filled his view. Then,
[Special-Rank Slayer approval denied.]
[Adjusting rank upward.]
[Requesting approval for Top-Tier Slayer.]
Moments later,
[Top-Tier Slayer approval complete.]
[Top-Tier Slayer exclusive Item Shop established.]
At last, Hyunseok's Item Shop was unlocked. He blinked in disbelief.
"There are rank-exclusive shops, too?"
Apparently, the system had officially recognized him as a Top-Tier Slayer.
With a nervous excitement, he activated the Item Shop, only to hit a new restriction.
[To activate the Item Shop, you require 'Hard Achievement'-level points or higher.]
Hyunseok frowned.
"What kind of nonsense is that? I need achievement points just to open the damn shop?"
In Easy Mode, he had completed ten 'Impossible Achievements'. And now, when he tried to open a shop, the system wanted to deduct those points.
So, he'd have to accumulate many more achievements.
Fortunately, it didn't demand 'Very Hard' or 'Extremely Hard' achievements, just 'Hard' ones.
"Hmm…"
He thought deeply.
"If merely opening it costs this much… the items inside must be outrageous."
Normally, entrance fees cost less than the goods themselves.
In most cases, the items were worth more than the admission price.
"Hard achievement or higher…"
When he killed the Twin-Headed Troll at Bukhansan, it had only counted as an Easy Achievement.
Compared to when the weaker Twin-Headed Orc was considered a Hard Achievement, this showed how far Slayers' overall power had risen.
"Still, where the hell am I supposed to find new achievements?"
After all, even an 'Easy Achievement' wasn't exactly easy. It just meant "less difficult among difficult things."
'Impossible' went beyond that, and 'Hard' was nearly impossible for ordinary Slayers.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Hyunseok finally opened the Item Shop, and nearly cursed.
"What the hell is this crap?"
Even setting aside the item performance, the prices were astronomical.
No matter how "Top-Tier" it was, this was absurd.
"Achievement points… and even the bonus stats attached to them get consumed?"
Not only were his achievement points deducted, but his stats were as well.
Normally, a Slayer received 1 stat point per level-up.
Back when he'd assisted I'UET in Slaying, the members had nearly worshiped him for earning +10 bonus stats.
Bonus stats were that valuable, treasures more precious than gold to a Slayer.
Jongwon had once gained +20 stats and celebrated wildly, and not long ago, his Strength stat of 72 had earned him first place in official rankings.
That alone proved how rare and priceless bonus stats were.
"Thirty stats per achievement point? That's insane."
His honest impression after scanning the catalog:
Even though it was called Top-Tier, there wasn't a single truly extraordinary, unique item.
The descriptions sounded grand, but the reality was disappointing.
He couldn't understand why everything was priced so outrageously.
After a long browse, Hyunseok left the shop empty-handed.
"Well, it's not like I urgently need items right now anyway."
But strangely enough, looking through the Item Shop had motivated him.
Someone with 100,000 won hesitates to buy something for 50,000.
But someone with 100 million won wouldn't think twice.
If he could amass overwhelming Achievement Points and stats, he could buy whatever he wanted without hesitation.
Even if the shop lacked god-tier items, just having a new goal reignited his drive.
"And still… I should gather as many achievement points as possible, for the future."
He clenched his fist tightly.
❋ ❋ ❋
The Smart Codex originally functioned as a device to measure monster strength before features like the Monster Map and Bestiary were added.
Its primary function had been to detect a monster's magic power level.
Even though most people now used it for cataloging and mapping, it could still serve its old purpose.
Jung Chanwoong, Guildmaster of Hackers Guild, secretly measured the magic power of a nearby monster.
"What the… how high is this number going to go?"
The digits kept climbing.
The strongest registered monster so far, the Twin-Headed Troll, had a reading of around 5,000.
Most monsters' impact-force readings (from shock-measuring devices) and their magic power levels roughly matched.
But this one had already surpassed 6,000… 7,000… and was still rising rapidly.
The other guild members swallowed hard.
"We're dead if it finds us."
"How the hell do we fight something like that?"
The number exceeded 8,000-
That was double the Twin-Headed Troll's record.
But it wasn't two monsters adding up to twice the power, it was one being twice as strong.
The difference between two rabbits and one lion.
"Nine thousand…"
At last, the reading stopped at 9,999.
Not because that was the monster's limit,
but because the Codex couldn't measure any higher.
The creature was enormous, around five meters tall.
Its skin looked like rough, bark-like muscle.
Strangely, its head was small compared to its body,
with a single giant eye in the center of its face.
Its mouth was nearly vestigial, emitting no sound,
and it gripped a massive wooden club in its right hand,
making an Orc's club look like a child's toy.
"Why the hell is something like that here…?"
The Hackers Guild wasn't particularly strong.
Trolls and Twin-Headed Trolls were beyond their league.
Even normal Orcs required serious risk.
But at least Orcs and Twin-Headed Orcs were slow enough that they could run away if things went wrong.
Their team of ten had been cautiously hunting Orcs, hoping to obtain Greenstones, which sold for a fortune.
Each successful drop could net every member ten million won.
That modest dream evaporated the moment the monster appeared.
The ground boomed as it walked, thud, thud,
each step like a tree trunk slamming the earth.
Even at a slow gait, its huge strides made it terrifyingly fast.
Once it wandered far enough away, one guild member whispered,
"Guildmaster… let's fall back slowly."
Jung Chanwoong nodded.
Just as they carefully began retreating, the monster froze.
It turned, the enormous eye in the middle of its face locked directly onto them.
Then,
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Like thunder, the ground shook violently.
Its movement now was completely different, charging with terrifying speed.
That five-meter body seemed to grow larger with every bound.
The Hackers Guild members felt like a tsunami was racing toward them.
A woman Slayer screamed.
"U-ugh… aaahh!"
The monster's club swung, its reach absurdly long, and despite the distance, it struck her dead on. Instant death.
"Uaaagh!!"
Panic broke out.
They fled blindly.
It was hopeless, this was a force no human could withstand.
If they had been in Normal Mode, they might have survived, their HP would drop instead of dying instantly.
But even then… who could withstand that kind of blow?
It wasn't Slaying, it was artillery warfare.
Out of ten, only two survived.
Their report reached the Korean Union, which deemed it a national emergency.
The government dispatched helicopters to investigate.
Breaking News: Two helicopters crash while observing new monster!
Tragic deaths confirmed, all crew lost.
Unslayable Monster: Cyclops!
Hwaeum Mountain declared restricted zone. Residents panic overnight.
Cyclops, Is it truly within Normal Mode limits?!
❋ ❋ ❋
The biggest problem with monsters was their Shields.
These barriers had extreme resistance to physical force,
making it nearly impossible for modern weapons to dent the gauge.
That was the real issue.
In the case of the Cyclops at Hwaeum Mountain,
its Shield resistance was so immense that even helicopter rockets had no effect.
Worse, its jumping power was absurdly high, enough to down aircraft with a single leap.
People began to suspect that this monster surpassed Normal Mode standards entirely.
Normal Mode monsters could still be killed by modern weapons, a hail of machine gun fire could reduce their gauge.
But the Cyclops shrugged off rockets.
Experts began to speculate cautiously:
Perhaps monsters beyond Normal Mode were completely immune to modern weaponry.
Since helicopters were useless, the next option was fighter jets, but that posed its own problems.
Hwaeum Mountain's terrain was dense with towering, fire-resistant trees and thick brush.
Missile targeting was difficult, and bombing risked massive wildfires, potentially causing more harm than the Cyclops itself.
Hyunseok muttered to himself,
"Still, at least this one isn't showing any abnormal behavior. That's something."
Some monsters occasionally exhibited irregular patterns.
The Twin-Headed Orc that I'UET first encountered had been one, approaching residential zones persistently, forcing them into prolonged battle.
Fortunately, the Cyclops had a defined territory, it never left the Hwaeum area.
It wandered aimlessly, as if searching for something, but did not attack unless provoked.
"Unmeasurable stat levels, huh…"
Even Minseo and Jongwon, who loved Slaying, didn't beg to go after it this time.
It was that dangerous.
Then one day, the Cyclops vanished.
People sighed in relief.
Authorities scoured the entire mountain, but it was gone, just as suddenly as it had appeared.
(End of Chapter 26)
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