bookpower Chapter 400: Explosion Of Scorching Heat (3)
Chapter 400: Explosion Of Scorching Heat (3)
【Explosive Bloom - 3】
It seemed you could get about two to three Explosive Blooms from a single Explosion of Scorching Heat.
Maybe because there was no share for Ayane, he got three at once.
Since ten could be exchanged for a random fire skill, a goal naturally formed.
In the end, until it became ten, three or nine meant the same thing. Explosive Blooms only gained meaning once they turned into a skill exchange ticket.
‘Getting that Flameproof skill really turned out to be a godsend. Without it, we would’ve struggled here too.’
Kang-hoo found himself newly grateful for the Flameproof skill’s existence.
Even the dungeon intel he’d received from Lars Abel listed Explosion of Scorching Heat as an “impossible to clear” monster.
It explicitly said to avoid it if it appeared, because ordinary attacks wouldn’t work.
On top of that, the timing was off—Explosion of Scorching Heat was expected much later than this, but it had shown up early.But because he had Flameproof, he hadn’t panicked at all, and with calm fighting he had subdued it easily.
Ayane approached and touched Kang-hoo’s body here and there as she asked.
“You okay?”
“As you can see.”
“You hit 100% absolute fire resistance, right? There’s no way you could pull off that insane resistance otherwise.”
“Right.”
Kang-hoo nodded.
After showing it already, he had no intention of hiding it. It wasn’t even a trait that needed to be concealed strategically.
“Sorry. I wasn’t going to freeload if I could help it, but that thing was impossible.”
“Freeload? You’re the one who shot down the fire chicken that was about to fly away.”
“Fire chicken? Ah! The Phoenix? Yeah, that’s true, but...”
“We just split roles well. If you keep doing that from here on—”
Kieeeek!
Before Kang-hoo could finish, the Phoenix tore through the clouds again.
This time too, Explosion of Scorching Heat was dangling from both of its legs.
According to the shared intel, the Phoenix and Explosion of Scorching Heat had never appeared back-to-back like this.
Given how these variable situations kept happening, it had to be an appearance triggered by the dungeon’s own mechanism.
Maybe the dungeon decided the intruders’ clear speed was too fast.
It could be intentional delay—or heavy pressure meant to drive them out early.
For Kang-hoo, it worked out perfectly.
He’d wanted to gather Explosive Blooms anyway, and if the materials delivered themselves, it was something to be thankful for.
“I’ll take the Phoenix.”
“Don’t worry about Explosion of Scorching Heat. I’ll stop it from getting away no matter what, so just focus on the Phoenix.”
“Got it.”
“Let’s go. We’ll wipe out the Phoenixes and Explosions of Scorching Heat completely.”
“Sounds fun.”
They laughed at the same time.
If the dungeon was going to feed them monsters like suckers, then they had no choice but to harvest everything they could.
Feasting time began.
After that.
The Phoenix and Explosion of Scorching Heat appeared a total of seven times, and each time they died in neat succession.
Maybe they couldn’t share information with their “seniors,” because they appeared with a time gap and got picked off one by one.
Thanks to that, Kang-hoo obtained a total of twenty-one Explosive Blooms from Explosion of Scorching Heat, enough to secure two skill exchange tickets.
Ayane, who diligently hunted Phoenixes, said her fire resistance had risen by a whopping 25%.
She hadn’t even suffered much, yet she’d gained a huge chunk of fire resistance—more than enough reason for her to celebrate.
After the series of battles ended, while Ayane cooled her barrel with a dedicated cooling device and performed maintenance, Kang-hoo immediately used the skill exchange tickets.
You only gained the chance to exchange—what you got was entirely up to luck.
Two fire-element skills spun like a roulette wheel, then stopped with a little pop as they revealed themselves.
【Fire Rain】
【Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max】
【Firefall. Causes rain made of flame to fall over a set area.
The more mana and Dark Energy included, the wider the range becomes, and the more divine power included, the more additional damage it deals to undead-type monsters.】
The term “firefall” suited it perfectly. Streams of fire fell like rainfall.
For monsters just as much as hunters, the most vulnerable resistance was often fire.
Especially monsters like Gale Hardwood, the kind they’d encountered around Hoeyang County in Kangwon Province in North Korea—fire was their bane.
Because they were tree-type monsters. No matter how powerful a monster was, there was no answer against burning flames.
Right now, the only reliable area-of-effect skill Kang-hoo had was Thunderstrike Tremor.
And even that was lightning-element, so getting Fire Rain was a welcome addition. It would likely be useful often.
He then checked the next skill.
Adding two fire skills at once made him feel satisfied even before reading the tooltip. Fire was always the answer.
【Flame Transfer】
【Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max】
【For a set time, the caster loses fire resistance and designates a target to transfer the caster’s resistance.
There is no duration limit, and the transfer radius is 125m.
However, while Flame Transfer is active, the caster cannot increase fire resistance in any form. It is locked at 0%.】
‘So it’s like lending resistance?’
A fascinating skill appeared.
The tooltip was long, but simply put, it meant he could temporarily hand over his fire resistance.
Depending on the situation, he could funnel it into someone whose resistance would have greater strategic value than his.
Or if there was someone more urgent to protect than himself, he could make them invincible to fire.
The skill itself probably wasn’t meant to be this broken. It was likely the effect of max proficiency.
Normally there would have been limits—like only being able to transfer half of your resistance, or something similar.
But at max proficiency, it felt like all those sandbags had been stripped away.
‘If I just keep expanding my skills like this, I’ll be able to handle most things on my own.’
Adding fire skills gave him even more confidence.
Having more response options meant he was already ahead in the battle of calculations.
And if he was, in earnest, a spell-casting assassin—his opponents would have a real headache.
Thinking of battles that would only get more fun, a small smile formed at the corner of his mouth. He looked forward to it.The process of moving while selecting only the main route was simpler and smoother than expected.
He avoided paths that would obviously dead-end or veer off somewhere absurd, as well as routes that were excessively treacherous.
So even when monsters appeared, he could notice them in advance and respond.
Ayane found it amazing, saying Kang-hoo had an almost supernatural instinct.
But from Kang-hoo’s perspective, he only had to follow the information in his head and confirm that reality matched it.
He also didn’t forget to steadily fill in the map, as required by Lars’s request.
For Kang-hoo, it was close to simple labor—drawing in information that had already been cross-verified.
Whenever Kang-hoo stopped now and then to sketch in the surrounding map—
Bang! BANG!
Ayane’s muzzle spat fire, cleanly picking off monsters visible in the distance.
As they advanced while continuously filling the map, and after several intense focused battles,
Kang-hoo’s level had risen to 405 before he knew it.
【Shin Kang-hoo Lv. 405】
【Class: Assassin】
【Innate Talents: Fairly Excellent Core Strength / Exceptionally Sharp Kinetic Vision / Versatile】
【Strength 1457】【Agility 1753】
【Stamina 1215】【Mana 31】
【Anti-Magic 1735】【Toughness 1325】
【 Dark Energy 1220】【 Divine Power 125】
Even after not checking his status window for a while, he liked how his stats were still rising evenly, as always.
If there was anything he wanted to be greedier about,
it wasn’t just stats—it was increasing his innate talents.
Innate talents, which didn’t show up as simple numbers, affected more than people thought.
Put another way, they were “potential.” They could become the possibility of skill branching and deepening.
‘Even Jang Si-hwan alone has well over ten innate talents... I’ve still got a long way to go.’
Jang Si-hwan was the concentrated embodiment of every protagonist buff imaginable. Thinking about him always brought a faint sense of despair.
But— compared to the detention-center days at level 10, living like a mayfly, this was a staggering change.
Back then, when he thought of Jang Si-hwan, the first words that came to mind were: I can’t.
Now, what came first was: If I grow a little more, it’s doable. I can do it.
He could estimate the strategic pros and cons to some extent now. Before, the gap had been so wide it made him give up on thinking at all.
“Kang-hoo.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know what I found most unbelievable while we were coming all this way? It’s kind of obvious in hindsight, but no matter how I think about it, it still feels absurd.”
“What is it?”
“We’re an assassin and a gunner duo, right? Just from the words alone, anyone would say guerrilla fighting fits us best.”
“Conventional wisdom says so.”
“With this kind of combo, it’s hard for me to find a timing where I can snipe with peace of mind. I have to worry about my own survival too.”
Kang-hoo nodded.
If they followed that “conventional wisdom,” then with this combo they’d spend all their time rampaging like rabid dogs.
No monster was going to politely wait in place. They would chase hunters relentlessly.
And when that happened, a “sniper” like Ayane, forced into a ranged position, would have to move even more.
Ayane continued emphatically.
“But Kang-hoo tanks and holds the monsters too, so I don’t need to reposition at all.”
“Was it comfortable?”
“Is that even a question? Even while I’m experiencing it, I doubt my own eyes. What assassin tanks and holds? This is why people pay big money to hire a tanker.”
Instead of answering, Kang-hoo simply smiled quietly.
Ayane, who had built her entire hunter career through mercenary work, had stricter eyes than anyone.
By her standards, this level of praise could be taken as a rave review—almost worship.
Knowing the weight and value of her words, anyone would feel good hearing it.
“Since Kang-hoo’s abilities cover so many areas, your improvisation is bound to be good too. I think I finally get why they searched for you all the way from Germany.”
“How much was the plane ticket?”
“Did I lay it on too thick?”
“My ears are going to wear out. That’s enough. If you hear compliments too often, you get numb to them.”
“Hmph. So humble.”
Ayane lightly thumped his shoulder.
And just as she rated him highly, Kang-hoo’s evaluation of her was similar.
Ayane was a hunter he didn’t want to let go of the thread of fate with.
Her role was absolute when it came to preemptively eliminating enemies positioned outside mid-to-long range.
Because they could take the initiative and strike first, their strategic options widened.
Right then—
-Hoho! I have no interest in the likes of humans... but you do seem like you’ll be fun to toy with. A pleasure to meet you. I am the man who will turn this place into your grave. I am FREDO!
“F*ck, how unlucky.”
“Is he doing some kind of insane character concept?”
Despite thinking he’d delivered an awesome line, he was greeted by nothing but insults from Ayane and Kang-hoo.
The monster that appeared before them was a middle boss they would now have to face without prior intel.
【Mad Scientist - Fredo】
Even the epithet felt ominous.
Fredo wore unknown gauntlets on both hands. And the hoses stuck into his back like tentacles were just extra.