I Became a Disaster-Class Newbie by Stealing Abilities - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 43. Barkan (3)
[Physical attack power increases by 135,000.]
[Magical attack power increases by 85,000.]
[Armor penetration effect is applied by 30%.]
[Damage dealt to souls increases by 20%.]
[Movement speed increases by twenty times.]
Status windows materialized without end.
Even Cabalado’s Short Sword, with its mere 3,000 attack power, had felt staggering in comparison.
Now he held a force that defied all measure.
Whoosh!
The Master’s form transformed into a thread of pure light…
Crash!
In the blink of an eye, he was upon Barkan.
When Baldur’s blessing overlaid with the Frost Flame Holy Sword, something extraordinary occurred.
Clang!
The opponent’s movement and attack speeds diminished.
Boom!
A penetration effect that ignored defense was layered on top.
And beyond that—
[The unique ability ‘Guillotine Match’ activates!]
[Effect: In exchange for reducing your own physical and magical resistance by 50%, the opponent’s physical and magical resistance decreases by 75%. Duration: 5 minutes. Critical hit chance and stun success rate double.]
A unique ability seized from Hyang Pyung-jak.
A ruthless engagement born purely for offense had come to pass.
“Gah!”
Barkan, who had never budged no matter how fiercely attacked, now furrowed his brow in clear pain.
His attack power had skyrocketed to absurd levels, and now critical hits were detonating one after another—of course it hurt.
‘At last. Now we can fight.’
The greatest change lay in speed.
Beyond line and line…
Movement between point and point through space itself.
No longer a matter of sight and reaction—only prediction could follow.
“Fool! That is no power any human should wield. If you don’t wish to slam into a wall and die, you must stop this instant!”
“I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry about it.”
Already having devoured the very heart of the volcano, he was acutely aware of how reckless this was.
The time limit was five minutes, but if he didn’t end this within half that span, his body would snap apart under the strain.
He had to be swift.
Every second mattered.
Rip!
The blade that cleaved through the shield carved a deep wound into Barkan’s dark skin.
Thick blood streamed down in rivulets.
Something he could never have imagined before.
“I’ll kill you!”
[Barkan activates ‘Harpoon Form’!]
Thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk-crack!
Long spikes erupted where the Master had stood mere moments before.
From the shadow spread across the ground, the same spikes burst upward.
Above and below.
Threatening every space itself.
Boom!
The Master threw himself backward with maximum force.
‘Too close.’
A moment slower and his body would be riddled with holes.
Yet that near miss had cost the creature his most troublesome defensive skill.
Harpoon Form’s cooldown was forty-five seconds.
While using [Shadow Heart], that became fifty-five seconds.
And maintaining [Phase 2] was burning through mana at a rate that would cost him roughly five percent of his speed.
So the next skill he’d use would be…
“Worthless pest!”
Barkan gathered flame into his blade, then swung it in a broad arc.
Thinking to annihilate everything in one sweep.
Whoooosh!
An endless inferno consumed everything in sight.
Yet Jusang slipped through by the barest margin once more.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
Forward.
Ever forward.
Whoosh!
Boom-boom-boom!
Countless skills poured down in an attempt to block Jusang’s charge.
Barkan predicted his path and summoned an array of instant-death techniques, yet each one found only empty air.
A hair’s breadth separated them.
Even Barkan had to accept it now.
“Impossible. You can actually control your speed?”
He had experienced something like this before.
Similar to this.
Perhaps even faster.
Otherwise, these movements would be impossible.
“Yes. Ah… my choice was never wrong.”
Amy, watching the battle unfold, could no longer contain her emotions as tears streamed down her face.
To see a Demon Race so terrifyingly powerful being toyed with and overwhelmed like this.
Despair had vanished.
In its place, endless faith and hope were taking root.
‘There was always a reason Baek Seol-gi trusted and followed him so.’
Knowing his past and his bloodline from the start.
Nurturing that power, making it bloom and grow.
Not a single thing about him was ordinary.
And because of that.
Her conviction only deepened.
That no matter what lay ahead, she would walk this path with him.
* * *
The distance narrowed.
Skills went wide.
Jusang, seizing his advantage in speed, had already closed the gap to Barkan.
Crash!
Dodging the blade Barkan swung, Jusang poured every last drop of mana into his counterattack.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
The strain on his body had already exceeded its limit.
There was only one chance.
If he failed now, there would be nothing after.
Go.
[Skill ‘Showtime’ activates!]
His slashes multiplied endlessly.
A moonlit realm that even bound the stars invaded Barkan’s domain.
A relentless shower of golden sparks.
A torrent of mana under Baldur’s blessing.
This was it.
[Frost Flame Holy Sword Annihilation Form ‘Where Moonlight Freezes’ activates!]
A finishing technique born to stand against those of upper tier rank.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The blade tore through Barkan’s chest.
Blood sprayed in all directions…
“Aaaagh!”
A scream of agony burst from Barkan’s lips.
Not yet.
Not nearly enough.
“Hyaaah!”
Jusang swung his blade with everything he had.
Strike after strike, the moonlight carved the wound deeper and deeper.
The bitter frost too cut off the flow of demonic power.
And finally.
Crack!
Sparks erupted from Baldur’s blessing, reaching straight through to the heart.
“I… I cannot believe it. Defeated by a mere human…”
Blue flames poured from Barkan’s eyes.
With his heart utterly shattered, there was no way he could survive.
And so a high-ranking Demon Race fell.
At the same moment.
Ding!
[You have achieved an Impossible Achievement!]
[The highest condition for Plunder has been unlocked!]
A golden status window flickered before him.
The text that followed was nothing short of shocking.
[You may select one unique ability or Trait skill from the dungeon boss monster, Minotaur, and seize it.]
[You may randomly seize one unique ability or Trait skill from Barkan.]
……!?
Was this real?
Ju-sang drew a sharp breath at this unbelievable fortune.
Not only could he choose freely from what the six-horned boss monster Minotaur possessed…
but he could also obtain one of Barkan’s abilities, though it would be random.
It was an absolutely insane reward.
Thump-thump, thump-thump!
His heart hammered as if it were about to break free.
The anticipation that surged through him rivaled the moment he first acquired the Gate of Avici.
The fatigue accumulated from his battle with Barkan seemed to dissolve in an instant.
[You have obtained the Urn of Resentment!]
[You have obtained the Drop of Yearning!]
[You have obtained Barkan’s Great Sword!]
Even the dropped items were all extraordinary.
‘All AA-grade or higher.’
Bora-doli would be sick with envy if he saw this haul.
The Drop of Yearning, when applied to a target’s eyes, had the effect of showing them what they desired most.
Combined with Bora-doli’s Trait—where his Luck Stat increases the more the audience cheers—the synergy would be extraordinary.
For now, he’d hold onto this one.
There’d be countless uses for it.
Ju-sang’s attention turned to the next item.
‘The Urn of Resentment’ would go to Amy.
‘Barkan’s Great Sword’ would go to Baek Seol-gi.
Both items would greatly aid in their growth.
And it wouldn’t hurt to earn some favor either.
[As the greatest contributor, you are granted an Additional Trait Slot.]
This was why he’d needed to come to Demon’s Throat.
And that reward was now in hand.
‘All this trouble for this moment.’
Traits were normally limited to a maximum of three per person.
Only through exceptionally rare means could one possess four or more Traits, and one such means was obtaining an Additional Trait Slot.
Now far greater options and combinations would be available to him.
‘I wonder how Seol-gi is doing.’
Ju-sang thought of Baek Seol-gi, who had departed for Kangwon Province with the White Ghosts.
Helheiм’s Palace was counted among the highest-difficulty ruins even beyond the Wall.
Survival rate: zero percent.
The moment anyone entered, contact was lost, and even veteran expeditions had long since given up on conquering it.
But it would be fine.
The strong recognize the strong.
The Witch of Bitter Cold would have no choice but to be captivated by Baek Seol-gi’s potential.
Soon enough, she would return with good news.
He had no doubt about it.
Ju-sang gathered the spoils first, then informed his allies in other locations that Barkan had fallen.
For now, escaping the collapsing dungeon was the priority; everything else could be sorted out once they were outside.
Light, light steps.
Soon after, as Ju-sang walked out through the gate, his stride was lighter than it had ever been.
* * *
Survival.
The value of that sweet word exceeded all imagination.
Especially when death had seemed inevitable.
Ju-sang emerged from the Demon’s Throat and immediately sought out a budget-friendly motel in the vicinity.
The facilities hardly mattered.
Sleep was all that mattered.
He rinsed the blood and sweat away under hot water, then collapsed onto the soft bed like a corpse.
He slept like the dead, forgetting even to eat.
What came next was repairing equipment whose durability had been depleted.
His weapons had been driven to the brink of destruction by the battle with Barkan.
-My own skills aren’t nearly good enough, so I’ll probably have to send them to Gangnam. That’ll add transportation fees, and the bill’s going to be steep. Maybe I should just sell them to some nobleman as a personal collection? It might end up costing more than it’s worth.
Repairs alone came to 150 million for Cabalado’s Short Sword and 3,000 for Malkrim.
Now he understood why poor hunters never made names for themselves through equipment alone.
If repair costs were like this, how was anyone supposed to survive?
Only after four days passed could he finally sit down for a proper first meal.
“So today I can finally eat something delicious to my heart’s content! I’ve wanted to try certain Korean foods since I arrived. Samgyeopsal and bulgogi, and Seongsin-dang strawberry siruе cake, and Dubai sticky cookies!”
Amy rattled off her bucket list in one breath.
Though something distinctly exotic seemed to have slipped into the end of it.
“Boss. Today I’m going to drink until my nose is crooked. Málà lobster noodles and baijiu it is.”
She’d chosen a menu that oddly dampened the mood.
Still, having gone through hardship together, an odd sense of kinship had emerged between them.
Hyang Pyung-jak in particular had grown considerably warmer compared to the beginning.
-Someone brought a huge load of food and supplies to the village. There were girls with white hair… they cleared out all the monsters in the area too before leaving. Hyang Pyung-jak, was that you?
News that had reached him through Hukryong River Province.
Hyang Pyung-jak looked toward Ju-sang.
His eyes held an emotion that defied description.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Oh, just something. Never mind it.”
“That’s rather bland of you.”
How long had they walked through the alleys?
“Here! This way!”
“And here comes the protagonist, fashionably late. We were just about to die from waiting.”
Kim Dae-hyun and Parbon waved toward Ju-sang.
The Jeoksong Guild had even secured the venue, preparing a grand celebration.
They’d rented out an entire sizeable bar in Jamsil.
A single day’s rental alone cost over 4 million—befitting a major corporation, they certainly spent generously when they did.
“My apologies. I’ve accumulated quite a bit of fatigue.”
“Ha, I jest. We could wait days for you, not just a few hours.”
Parbon patted Ju-sang’s shoulder affectionately.
Then he guided him deeper into the bar.
“Ohhh! We finally meet!”
“Kha-ha! Here, have a drink. I’ve been waiting so long to pour this cup for you.”
“The way you fought, young friend—I’ll never forget it. I was ready to throw everything away and join your ranks.”
“I told my guild mates about it and they didn’t believe me. They said no such commander could exist and just cursed me out.”
Hunters bearing the marks of various guilds raised their glasses and erupted in cheers.
Forty-eight in total.
Every last one of them had survived because of Ju-sang.
“What about the other two…?”
“Don’t worry. They’re alive. It’s just that their injuries were severe, so they’re still recovering.”
Not a single casualty, even after facing Barkan.
This was as good as it could possibly get.
[You have acquired 250 Stat points.]
A quest that awarded +5 points for each person saved.
Having brought everyone back alive, the reward was equally substantial.
Add the 35 points earned from killing Keruza.
Plus the bonus Stats gained from confronting Barkan and the rest…
520 points.
That was his reward for surviving the Demon’s Throat.
‘It feels less like buying a bowl of soup and more like acquiring an entire soup restaurant.’
Amid the cheerful atmosphere, Ju-sang quietly activated his status window.
[Lordship Stat increases by +80!]
[Mana increases from 273 → 573!]
Those were the two core stats.
He’d invested most heavily in Mana, the stat that mattered most.
‘It’s nearly doubled.’
With this much, he could summon something far more powerful from the Gate of Avici.
Supplying Mana to Baek Seol-gi or casting other skills would become several times easier as well.
The Lordship Stat was quite interesting too.
From the moment he’d raised it, people’s attitudes shifted noticeably.
Even his lightest jokes drew far more attention than before.
If he raised the stat further later and delivered a proper speech, he imagined he’d witness something remarkable.
[Strength increases from 75 → 115!]
[Stamina increases from 80 → 130!]
[Agility increases from 125 → 175!]
He’d distributed the rest evenly.
A hum of energy thrummed through him.
His body felt lighter, alive with power.
Hah.
He wanted to hit the weights right now.
Next was….
[Ability Enhancement Voucher]
And.
He needed to decide which ability to claim from the Minotaur and Barkan.
‘Now then, what shall it be.’
It struck him anew: no matter how many times he faced a choice like this, it never grew old.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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