Sung Suho was then a year old.
The day the cute baby finally took his first steps.
Like all parents, Suho's house was very chaotic.
In a slightly different way from others.
-H-Honey! Suho! Our dear Suho!
-What's wrong with Suho?
Suho's mother, Cha Haein, was screaming in disbelief.
-He's floating on air!
-…What?
-Suho is flying around the house right now!
Suho took his first step in the air, not on the floor.
In fact, it was one of the special powers that Suho inherited from his father, Sung Jinwoo— the 'Ruler's Power'.
[…Heuk. It's been so long.]
1-year-old Suho learned how to fly before he could even walk.
Beru sniffed as he recalled how that sight was like the story of the extraordinary birth of a hero in mythology.
Back then, Earth was a very peaceful world.
The power that Suho inherited was created to destroy everything and was of no use in a peaceful world.
No, it wasn't just futile but rather, it has the potential to make a life impossibly normal.
Sung Jinwoo decided to seal that power until Suho could control it.
[The apostles of Outer Gods are invading Earth! Now is the time to use that sealed power of Young Master!]
[SKILL: Ruler's Power Lv.1]
Active skill.
No mana is required.
Can physically affect objects without touching them.
Leaving Beru's fuss behind his ear, Suho fired the arrow he held with his invisible hand in the opposite direction.
"I'll give it back to you."
Swoosh- Tak!
[Krrrk!]
[You have killed a Goblin Archer.]
The goblin archer fell down with an arrow stuck in his throat.
Meanwhile, the other goblins behind him were startled. They turned their backs and started running away.
Dash!
[Krrrk!]
'Do you think I'd let you escape?!'
Suho also chased him right away.
But, swoosh!
Huh?"
[Krrk?!]
With just a single leap, Suho outran the fleeing goblins
He looked at one of the goblins.
Their eyes met awkwardly in mid-air.
[Kehehe! As much as your muscle strength has increased, your jumping power will also change! You'll get used to it soon!]
Beru's laughter while explaining sounded annoying for some reason.
Suho immediately hit the goblin's head with an axe.
Tuck!
[Kiiikk!]
[You have killed a goblin spectator.]
Suho took down two goblins at once.
He wiped the goblin blood off his face with the back of his hand and looked around with a sullen gaze.
He didn't have time to think it over because he was fighting here and there, but now he realized that this black-and-white world was never favorable to him.
The malevolent gazes could be felt all over the ruined city.
The flesh he cut through was stimulating his senses stat.
"That's a lot."
[That's right. This is the land of death. A world that had been abandoned without an owner for a long time. In that period, wild monsters have built their habitats on this land.]
Beru's smirk while explaining was truly evil.
If it wasn't for that cute mini size, it wouldn't be hard to believe that the true owner of this place was Beru.
[But now!]
Choo!
Beru spread his short arms and spoke.
[Finally, the true owner of this land has returned! I hope you will win! Take back the land that was taken away by those foolish invaders with your own power!]
Ring!
At that moment, a new quest window opened in front of Suho.
[Quest: Survival]
The inhabitants of the Shadow Dungeon will never acknowledge you as the owner of this land because you are weak.
Prove yourself worthy by surviving within the required time.
Required time: 4 hours
Remaining time: 4 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds
[Quest: Survival]
'Survival?'
After reading the quest, Suho's eyebrows twitched.
With that…
Bbbuuu!
Bbuuu-uuu-!
[Goblin Captain uses 'Item: Horn' to call his subordinates.]
[Goblin Captain uses 'Item: Horn' to call his subordinates.]
Hee hee!
Kereukkereuk!
Blub blub!
Along with the roaring voices, the goblins hiding all over the city began to appear one by one.
Expecting that there would be a lot, but still, there's too much.
Suho flashed a tired look on his face.
"You're kidding, right? I need to hold out for 4 hours like this?"
[Of course, you don't have to kill them all. Right now, Young Master is only at level 3. Try to survive somehow. The more you struggle hard, the more you will naturally level up and become stronger.]
Beru winked and raised his thumb.
His face was filled with a smile like that of a father looking proudly at his grown son.
'…Why did that sound quite mean?'
But now was not the time to overthink.
Kereukkereuk!
They are coming.
Kwak!
Suho hurriedly took the second axe from the hand of the goblin he had just killed.
[Item: Goblin's Stone Ax]
Difficulty to get: E
Type: Axe
Attack Power +5
Hand axe used by goblins
Item information floats above the axe.
'One for each hand.'
Holding two stone axes in each hand, Suho's eyes glimmered.
But, something made him more anxious.
The approaching goblins are all now holding axes on both hands.
Suho immediately opened the status window and allocated all 5 remaining stat points into muscle strength.
[Muscle Strength: 15 → 20]
Whooop!
Suho's hand holding the axe felt strong.
Muscle Strength stat increases strength and speed.
Considering that his strength stat at level 1 was 10, his strength was now twice as strong.
'With this power…'
He can jump faster!
Poof!
Using that strength, Suho swiftly turned around and started running away.
He looked for a terrain that was advantageous for a battle with multiple opponents.
[Kehehe! You are brilliant! After all, the weak have their own way of fighting!]
"…"
[It's like watching a larva succeed in its first wriggling!]
Ha, he was so annoying.
As Suho ran, he recalled all the great impressions he had with Beru when he saw him for the first time and erased them all.
Even his past where he lived as an ant lover for a long time has also been wiped out.
'When I go back, I'll burn all the ant pictures first.'
Suho was determined to draw anteaters from then on.
* * *
Suho definitely felt the effect of added strength.
Holding a pair of axes, Suho ran wildly.
Whoop- Tak!
He hit a goblin axe with his right axe.
Swoosh!
He hit the neck with the left one.
Buuung, tak!
He turned around and cut off the ankles of the goblins that attacked from behind.
Slash!
Throats got cut.
[You have killed a goblin assassin.]
[You have killed a goblin spearman.]
"Khiiikkk!"
He killed two of them at once, but the counterattack was worse.
Axes and spears flew in from all directions, aiming for Suho.
Half of them were dodged, but half were not.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
"Kkj!"
[HP: 160/190]
It hurts.
As his body strength level decreased, the wounds on his body started increasing.
As his physical strength decreased, so did the number of wounds on his body.
However, Suho gritted his teeth and ran towards them again.
Buuung- Kwak!
Thud!
This time, he slashed 3 of them.
Meanwhile, Suho also got 4 more attacks.
[HP: 118/190]
Spat!
Cut one more head.
This time, he received 3 attacks.
[HP: 84/190]
Before he knew it, his body strength level was reduced to half.
That's how much Suho's body turned into a bloody mess.
Right then.
Ring!
['Skill: Endurance Lv.1' was acquired.]
'I got a skill?!'
Suho's eyes widened.
Usually, hunters live their whole lives with only the skills given at the same time as their awakening.
In order to acquire additional new skills, they needed the expensive 'runestone' that are found very rarely.
But, he was able to get that precious skill for free during a battle!
[Skill: Endurance Lv.1]
Passive skill.
No mana needed.
You have invincible tenacity.
Increases physical defense by 20%.
He was able to feel the effect even before checking the skill description.
The pain from the wounds on the body was alleviated.
[Kehehe!]
The intimidated goblins screamed and scattered in all directions.
At the same time, the sound of horns calling more of their companions rang from all areas.
Suho hid behind a pillar and caught his breath.
"Wow. It hurts."
Beru jumped up and stomped his feet.
[Khiikk! Are you in so much pain, Young Master? Well, you're young so it would hurt. You'll get stronger as you get hurt. I'm so happy to know that you've acquired an endurance skill as much as the attacks you received!]
"…"
Suho, who had been pressing his wound with his hand to stop the bleeding, glared at Beru.
[Kehehe?]
There was an ant the size of a fist smiling brightly cluelessly.
"Why don't you help me instead of just watching?"
Beru was a strong monster who tore apart the huge wolf with his own strength.
He looked so reliable back then.
After his body got smaller, he seemed to have no intention of helping Suho.
But, Beru had his own circumstances.
[Of course, I want to do that. But, I must conserve my strength as much as possible in order to return to outer space where His Majesty is waiting for me.]
Beru was still in the process of restoring his lost strength in preparation for his return, which he was doing on his own.
It's all because Sung Jin-woo, who could recharge his mana, was too far away.
[Besides, if I participated in the battle, the amount of experience that was for Young Master would be drastically reduced. At a time like this, how about killing at least one more of them and aiming for a level-up?]
There was nothing wrong with Beru words.
The problem is that it sounded too much like a mockery.
He had been talking nonsense on top of Suho's head since earlier, which made the latter annoyed.
Although, it didn't seem like Beru was doing it on purpose.
It was just purely an evil nature that lacked humanity.
Maybe that's why he was not human in the first place.
[Keeek! Young Master! They're coming again! Stand up and fight! It wouldn't be long until you level up!]
Suho gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand.
'Ruler's Power.'
An invisible hand flew forward and lifted a stone axe from the goblin's corpse.
Suho noticed during the battle that the Ruler's Power could lift a weight of 10 kg.
It has the power to easily lift a baby who has just taken its first steps. Of course, a stone axe would also be possible.
Besides, when he was young, he used this ability to fly around.
Suho rotated the stone axe that floated in the air around his body.
This would solve his minimum defense.
Seeing that, Beru's eyes sparkled.
[Kyaaahhh! He used the ruler's power in such a way? It seems to be working!]
…That mini ant is no doubt evil.
* * *
[Your level increased!]
[Your level increased!]
Time went by slowly.
Still, after being bloody and struggling for a while, his level was gradually increasing.
When he finally leveled up, the wounds from the goblins' axes were completely healed and the blood flow stopped.
His body strength, which seemed to dry out at any moment, quickly got replenished.
Most of all, as his level went up, Suho became stronger and stronger.
Finally…
[Remaining time: 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds]
[You have completed the quest.]
[Your level increased!]
[Level: 7]
Dash!
[Krrrrk!]
[Krrrrk!]
When the timer stopped, the goblins who had been ferociously chasing Suho until now, scattered and hid in the darkness.
"…Is it over?"
Suho looked around without putting his guard down.
Before he knew it, the corpses of goblins were all around him.
A heavy silence fell, just like when they first came here.
[Kheeuuu! Good job! I'm so proud of you!]
Clap clap clap clap!
It was Beru who broke the silence and clapped like a seal excitedly.
[Finally, those wicked bastards acknowledged Young Master! Now, they must have realized deep within that Young Master is not as weak as he looks!]
As he looks?
"How did I look back then?"
[Well, initially you were at the level similar to a larva that can easily get killed when stepped on! Now, you're already at level 7!]
"Larva…"
He still wouldn't stop it.
Suho shouldn't have asked.
Right then.
Ring!
[The quest completion reward has arrived.]
[Do you want to check the reward?]
(Y/N)
"…Yes."
As soon as Suho finished answering, the message unfolded.
[The following reward has been prepared.]
Reward: 'Runestone: Shadow Fragment'