Chapter 23
This was an entirely unexpected situation for Junhyeok.
'Huh? What kind of pushover is this? Well, thank you very much.'
He’d already struck gold by copying Lee Daesoo’s skills, but now Kim Yoonho was rolling in too?
When someone volunteered to be his cash cow, Junhyeok wasn’t one to refuse.
“Not at all! The honor is mine!”
Junhyeok hastily grabbed Yoonho’s outstretched hand before he could retract it.
Then immediately activated his skill.
[Copy!]
Just like with Lee Daesoo, an overwhelming list of invaluable skills cascaded before Junhyeok’s eyes.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he made his choice:
-Speed Master [Max], Agile Maneuvers [Max], Lightning Flash [Max]. Copy these skills? [Yes/No]
‘Yes!’
[Skill copy complete. Copied skills can be viewed in your Skill Window.]
Junhyeok inwardly crowed after copying Kim Yoonho’s skills.
‘Done! Hahaha!’
First Lee Daesoo, now Kim Yoonho. For Junhyeok, this was beyond hitting the jackpot—it was a mega jackpot.
After shaking hands with Yoonho, Junhyeok stealthily glanced at Kang Jieun.
‘If I play this right...her skills too...Hmm?’
Though he considered capitalizing on the momentum to copy Jieun’s skills, she stood rigidly with a troubled expression, lost in thought.
Ironically, Kang Jieun should’ve been the most eager to recruit Junhyeok at this moment.
While Taebaek Guild (Lee Daesoo’s guild) and Heaven Guild (led by Kim Yoonho) boasted robust tanker rosters, Genesis Guild (Jieun’s guild) excelled in DPS but lacked reliable tanks.
Yet Jieun, consumed by the imminent C-rank monster hunt, had no bandwidth for recruitment strategies.
Her foiled plan to exploit Lee Daesoo for free clearly weighed on her.
Unaware of this, Junhyeok simply noted her preoccupied state.
‘She looks dead serious. Pushing now might backfire. Whatever—I’ve already hit the motherlode. Time to cash out.’
While securing Jieun’s skills would’ve been perfect, exceeding his goals this massively made further risks unnecessary.
As if sensing his exit strategy, an association employee scurried over:
“Excuse me...The Association Head has been waiting. If you could hurry...”
Junhyeok seized the lifeline:
“Ah! My apologies for detaining everyone!”
With an apologetic bow, he turned to Lee Daesoo and pumped his fist:
“As your biggest fan, I’ll be cheering you on, Hunter Lee Daesoo! Show them who’s boss!”
With that performative send-off, Junhyeok melted into the crowd.
Exiting the association building, Junhyeok beelined to a nearby café and ordered iced tea.
Time to properly inspect his new skills.
“Alright, let’s see...”
By the window, Junhyeok pulled up his Skill Window:
Universal Skill: [Passive] Perfect Defender [Max]
-Defense +3000
-Damage Received -50%
-Evasion Rate +20%
-HP +2500
-All Elemental Damage -20%
-Registerable in Skill Deck
Universal Skill: [Active] Shield Bash [Max]
-Stuns target with shield strike
-Inflicts 5-second stun
-Deals 3000 damage
-Aggro +70%
-Registerable in Skill Deck
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 20 minutes
Force Cost: 1200
Universal Skill: [Active] Stunning Charge [Max]
-Charges to stun target
-Inflicts 5-second stun
-Deals 5500 damage
-70% knockback chance
-Aggro +50%
-Registerable in Skill Deck
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 20 minutes
Force Cost: 1500
True to its third-evolution passive status, Perfect Defender far surpassed Iron Skin with massively upgraded defense and damage reduction. The added evasion, HP boost, and elemental resistance made it a tank’s dream.
Shield Bash and Stunning Charge weren’t mere crowd control—their substantial damage and aggro generation would be lifesavers during lost aggro or emergencies.
“Worth the hype,” Junhyeok murmured, satisfied.
Next, he reviewed Kim Yoonho’s skills:
Universal Skill: [Passive] Speed Master [Max]
-Movement Speed +300%
-Attack Speed +300%
-Reaction Speed +300%
-Dynamic Vision +150%
-Accuracy +50%
-Evasion +25%
-Wind Resistance +50%
-Registerable in Skill Deck
Universal Skill: [Active] Agile Maneuvers [Max]
-Outmaneuvers enemies with enhanced speed
-Movement Speed +200%
-Attack Speed +200%
-Reaction Speed +200%
-Registerable in Skill Deck
Cast Time: Instant
Duration: 10 minutes
Cooldown: 1 hour
Force Cost: 700
Universal Skill: [Active] Lightning Flash [Max]
-Teleports within 100m radius
-First post-teleport attack guarantees critical hit
-Registerable in Skill Deck
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 20 minutes
Force Cost: 900
These lived up to the "Speed Star" class title. While lacking direct attack boosts, the sheer mobility synergized perfectly—Speed Master’s passives amplifying Agile Maneuvers’ actives. Lightning Flash essentially functioned as Blink+ with its guaranteed crit mechanic.
Junhyeok’s lips curled into a manic grin.
“Heh...hehehe. This is insane. An absolute windfall.”
Combining these with his existing Force Booster and Force Weapon? He could likely solo most early-game raid bosses.
After calming down, Junhyeok headed home—quiet with his siblings still at school—and booted up his computer.
“Registration’s done. Time to list items.”
He accessed Force Life, the awakened-only marketplace, and signed up using his ID number.
“Hah! Never thought I’d join Force Life legitimately.”
As a former villain, he’d relied on black markets where he’d sold at losses and bought at premiums. Even then, securing desired items took months.
Force Life wasn’t just a marketplace—it hosted party recruitment, monster guides, class forums, and more. The undisputed top platform for awakened commerce.
Pulling four skill cards from his inventory, Junhyeok mused:
“These should fetch decent prices, being from C/B-rank monsters.”
While ultra-rare cards could reach hundreds of billions, most traded between millions to tens of millions won. Junhyeok would call it a win at 10 million per card.
“Let’s see...Mountain Splitter and Kieran’s Blessing are new to me. Ice Trap? That’s a 100 million won card. Deadly Strike? Wait—this drops here?!”
Deadly Strike—a common but high-demand dealer skill—typically sold for 1 billion won. An instant sell.
“Even with just Ice Trap and Deadly Strike, this is profitable. But better check the others...”
His eyes bulged upon searching the remaining two:
Tanker skill Mountain Splitter and buffer skill Kieran’s Blessing were valued at astronomical sums he’d never imagined.
