I Became an Almighty All-Master with EX-Rank Spirits - Chapter 25

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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 25
Episode 25
My jaw dropped at the sight of the pristine apartment.
I’d heard before that plenty of places look worse in person than in photographs.
“The condition is quite nice.”
“Oh my! I should say so! Since you’re an Awakener, I made sure to show you our very best listing! When I heard an Awakener was coming to view the place, I brought you straight to our top property!”
The floor space was fifteen pyeong.
Two bedrooms with full amenities, and the location was decent too.
The price was two hundred million won deposit, eighty thousand won monthly rent.
It was hard to find anything better than this.
I made my decision quickly.
“I’ll take it.”
“Excellent choice! Hehe. Just review the contract and sign, and we’re all set!”
Beep-beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
“Oh, excuse me just a moment! It’s an urgent call.”
The real estate agent vanished.
Fire emerged from the Spirit’s Rest and looked between me and the apartment with a puzzled expression.
-Chirp? Chirp?
[Fire (EX) keeps asking if this is really the new home.]
[Fire (EX) helped the contract holder so earnestly and is asking why the house doesn’t seem much different!]
The Spirit’s Rest is fifteen pyeong.
No matter how I looked at it, something seemed off.
It wouldn’t be better to just stay in the Spirit’s Rest as it was, Fire seemed to be saying.
“We’ve only known each other for eleven days now, yeah? This is plenty. You don’t understand how the world works yet.”
I’d gone from barely scraping by in a one-room studio to upgrading to a villa in just eleven days.
Without winning the lottery, an upgrade like this would be impossible.
And these days, even the lottery barely counts as luck.
-Chirp. Chirp.
[Fire (EX) says that even from Fire’s perspective, it’s just a slightly fancier prison.]
[Fire (EX) adds that at least the contract holder is satisfied, so that’s something.]
“Thanks anyway.”
I’d sent about ten million won to my parents.
It seemed the moment had finally come to tell them I’d become an Awakener sooner than expected.
I just hoped they wouldn’t worry too much.
I soothed my startled parents and vaguely dodged the issue before ending the call.
After mentioning I’d visit home soon, I hung up and turned to face the returning real estate agent.
“Hehe, my apologies. Shall we proceed with the contract? We’ll need to know when you’re moving in and how you’d like to handle the deposit. Oh, and do make sure everything checks out legally, of course.”
The contract went through smoothly.
Even after thorough inspection, there wasn’t a single complication.
I said I’d move in as soon as I gave up my studio, and it all wrapped up surprisingly quickly.
We agreed to settle the payment at that time!
It was eleven in the morning.
“That went faster than expected. I thought we’d be here all day.”
This meant I could head to a Gate to farm materials.
-Chirp!
[Fire (EX) says we should eat first!]
“But we ate a huge breakfast—grilled pork belly.”
Even wrapped the lettuce wraps properly.
Ten kilograms of pork belly from this morning, no less.
-Chirp! Chirp!
[Fire (EX) says breakfast is breakfast, and lunch is lunch!]
[Fire (EX) asks how about Chinese food for lunch!]
“Fine, fine. Let’s go get Chinese food.”
The villa rent turned out to be less expensive than I’d expected, so money wasn’t an issue.
I headed toward an upscale Chinese restaurant with private rooms.
Shark fin soup, dongpo pork, fried rice, la zi chicken—you name it.
Fire inhaled it all like a fish finding water.
Along with Mana Stones on the side.
I really couldn’t get used to this appetite.
At this rate, Fire should just become a mukbang streamer.
By the time the Hunger gauge reached a satisfying threshold, I knew it was time to check my progress.
[Hunger has reached 2,500,000!]
[Fire (EX) has advanced by 1 level!]
❰Fire (EX) Lv. 12❱
❰Skills Possessed: Hellfire (EX), Meteor (EX), Hell Spear (EX)❱
❰Hunger: (0/6,000,000)❱
……New skill unlocks at Lv. 15
……New skill for Lee Chan-yeong unlocks at 6,000,000 Hunger
“It was a bit slower this time.”
The fake satiation leveling was to blame.
I’d spent three hundred thousand Hunger on it, after all.
Still, no regrets.
In six days, it’ll accumulate to a full million.
What caught my eye more was the new Hunger requirement itself.
“Six million. The ways to fill Hunger have multiplied, but this is ridiculous.”
-There’s an old saying: “He who wears the crown must bear its weight,” isn’t there?
“That’s true, but it should scale reasonably. It more than doubled again. This system has no conscience.”
-By the system’s nature, the stronger you become, the more resources are required. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Fire’s words flowed smoothly as ever.
What it said made sense.
A spirit like this probably didn’t exist anywhere else in the world.
“Why can’t you sympathize with me, even once?”
-Because I’m an AI.
“Scary AI.”
I turned away from my heartless companion and checked the new skill instead.
At least this skill would comfort me.
Of course it did.
[Successfully achieved 2,500,000 Hunger.]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Blessing of Nature (C)’!]
<Blessing of Nature (C)>
Description: The quantity of materials obtained from all natural blessings increases randomly!
“Huh? This is just a downgraded version of the Pickaxe of Efficiency and Fortune, isn’t it?”
As if that’s a bad thing.
Seriously?
It’s a shame that only materials increase, nothing else.
It would be nice if Mana Stones and by-products increased as well.
“I’ll be satisfied with just this.”
It was enough.
Today I’d be able to mine materials faster and in greater quantities.
Today’s research objective was as follows:
……Obtain Burning Stone Tree (0/300), Blazing Cotton (0/100), Strong Stone (0/50), Lowest-grade Mana Stone (F) (0/1,500), and unlock the Hunger Booster (C+) skill
<Hunger Booster (C+)>
Description: Hunger filled for 1 minute increases threefold!
“Wait, Hunger triples?!”
Given how many materials were required, this was a solid reward.
Only one minute duration, but I didn’t mind.
Based on Fire’s appetite, it could easily consume fifty Mana Stones in that time.
If it ate well, definitely more than that.
Once I’d verified everything, the meal was finished.
-Chirp! Chirp?
[Fire (EX) says it ate very well!]
[Fire (EX) asks what’s for dessert!]
“……Dessert?”
With no satiation limit, its appetite was terrifying.
Even asking for dessert.
Since I’d be running around today, I bought it the largest container of ice cream from a nearby parlor.
As I was heading toward the Gate, a staff member arrived to clear the dishes.
“This place had a lot of orders today, I wonder how much……. Gasp?!”
At the sight of empty plates stacked all the way to the ceiling, the employee froze in place.
* * *
Whether F-class or E-class, he made for the nearest Gate.
The number of Hunters wasn’t crucial to gathering materials.
Any Gate would do.
The Strong Stones he sought were present in most Gates anyway.
Finding them was quick, thanks to his Spirit’s perception and Fire.
He’d done this before, after all.
He asked Fire to keep watch over the surroundings, then drew out the Pickaxe of Efficiency and Fortune.
A swing or two, and the Strong Stone came loose easily.
At first, it was as expected.
[The Pickaxe of Efficiency and Fortune’s Efficiency effect activates!]
[The Pickaxe of Efficiency and Fortune’s Fortune effect activates at 5x multiplier!]
[You obtain Strong Stone × 5!]
That Fortune effect always triggered when gathering materials!
Five times over, no less.
But it didn’t stop there.
What if Blessing of Nature activated as well?
[Blessing of Nature (C) activates, tripling Strong Stone!]
[You obtain Strong Stone × 15!]
“Ahahaha! The materials are multiplying! This is it!”
He’d mined just one, yet the result had become fifteen times greater.
This wasn’t a C-class skill.
By ability alone, it was at least A-class or higher.
There’d be no need to visit multiple Gates.
Just two or three Gates would fill his quota in no time.
‘I could even make a trip to Gwanak Mountain and back.’
Heh, Burning Stone Trees?
I’ll take the Blazing Cotton too — all of it’s mine!
Everyone always complained that farming was brutally exhausting.
“But I’m just having fun!”
Crack!
He could digest what he ate as well — truly a two-for-one deal!
With Fire hunting monsters too, his gains multiplied many times over.
No need to buy anything with money.
He was happily mining away when it happened.
Two men had been watching him in secret.
“That’s definitely him, right? The bastard who killed our friend.”
“Not 99.9%, but 100% certain. We get the vision feed every time, so there’s no mistake. Plus, whatever he took off this time, his face is so much clearer now. Even the ID matches.”
“Alright! Let’s get our revenge on the masked man — make it real cruel.”
Sharp daggers gleamed in their hands.
These were no ordinary blades.
Absolute Paralysis Daggers — any being struck would fall into paralysis.
The effect triggered even from a graze.
They planned to paralyze him with these and torture him.
All for revenge.
The moment they began to creep closer—
“Look, someone’s mining Strong Stones. Must be short on money.”
“Still, Strong Stones sell okay. Demand’s decent enough. Want to mine some too?”
“Better to just hunt goblins. We don’t even have the equipment to mine.”
“True? Equipment’s the real problem.”
……?!
……?!
Hunters had arrived without warning.
The two men hastily concealed themselves.
They could take care of these newcomers quietly enough.
Who were they, after all?
Just small-time Hunters crawling through F to E-class Gates.
But this job had to be done right.
No harm in being careful.
“Let’s wait for the right moment. That bastard didn’t suffer for nothing.”
“Getting spotted wouldn’t help anyone. But chances will come around again.”
He slipped back cautiously, watching for his moment.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long for that chance to arrive.
There was just one small problem.
“Damn it! Of all places, why did he have to come to Gwanak Mountain?!”
“Thank god I had a protective suit left over from last time in my inventory. Phew, but why doesn’t that bastard look bothered at all?”
“How should I know! Maybe he’s got some kind of fire resistance skill!”
Even with the protective gear, he was cooking alive.
His body growing heavier by the moment.
It didn’t matter.
The chance had finally come.
“You’re sure no one’s around, right?”
“Absolutely. I’ve confirmed there’s nobody within five hundred meters. There is a counterattack skill, but it won’t be any trouble for us.”
“Good, good. Let’s go.”
There was no more hesitation.
He was moving forward cautiously when something caught his eye first.
“Fire?”
“It’s got a small humanoid shape? What is this? I’ve never seen anything like it. How interesting.”
-Kya?
“Did it just say kya? This little thing is cute. Should we take it?”
“Why would you even ask? What a prize this is. Getting something so rare and unique.”
That was their last moment.
A colossal crimson spear swept through them in an instant.
-Kya. Tsk.
[Fire (EX)’s held skill ‘Hell Spear (EX)’ activates.]
[Fire (EX) is horrified that filthy hands dared to touch him.]
Where they had stood.
-Kya?
[Fire (EX) discovers a single dagger!]
Fire’s eyes gleamed at the one dagger left intact.
Anyone could see it was something special.
Eager to show off his find, Fire clutched the dagger and scampered toward his contractor.

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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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