Episode 12
012. A Dialogue of Bodies
Geumsom left the village and entered the deep forest, the Forester’s Nest.
This was an area where low-level monsters like Goblins and Kobolds primarily appeared.
Squeeee!
The moment he entered the forest, seven or eight Goblins charged at him, wielding rusty short swords.
Thwack!
Thud!
[-1]
[-1]
[MISS]
[-1]
But their attacks posed no threat to Geumsom at all.
Before his overwhelming defense, the Goblins’ attacks were merely ticklish.
“Shall I give it a try?”
Geumsom adjusted his grip on the hammer and charged straight into the midst of the Goblin horde.
Crunch!
As the hammer crushed one Goblin’s head, the surrounding Goblins tried to flee in terror.
But Geumsom had no intention of letting them go.
“Unbreakable!”
[You become invincible for 15 seconds.]
Energy exploded from Geumsom’s body as if bursting forth.
Ignoring all attacks raining down on him, he swung his hammer and began slaughtering the Goblins.
15 seconds later, only silence lingered in the forest.
Unbeknownst, over fifty Goblin corpses were scattered at Geumsom’s feet.
.
.
.
[Your level has increased! Lv. 6]
“The effect is certainly something.”
Geumsom smiled with satisfaction and headed deeper into the forest.
Because his target wasn’t Goblins or the like.
Walking for a while to the deepest part of the forest.
He arrived at the entrance of a massive cave.
From inside the cave, a heavy breathing sound and the stench of rotten meat vibrated.
‘It’s here!’
Geumsom adjusted his grip on the hammer and stepped into the cave.
The interior was wider than expected.
And in its center, a single Troll with a massive body lay sleeping.
[Forester, Raging Troll Lv.25]
It was a boss monster.
A powerful monster that normally requires a party of five or more hunting together to barely face.
Grrrrr….
As if sensing Geumsom’s presence, the Troll stretched and slowly opened its eyes.
The monster’s eyes flashed with pure murderous intent.
GROOOOOOAR!
A giant Troll, easily over 5 meters tall, roared, a log-like club resting on its shoulder.
The intimidation alone was enough to freeze an ordinary player.
But Geumsom.
“Well, Troll bastard. Let’s see what you’ve got!”
He faced it head-on without retreating.
Because he could.
He trusted the performance of the items he had made.
The club swung by the Troll struck Geumsom’s body with an earth-shaking sound.
KWAANG-!
It was a tremendous impact, but Geumsom only staggered back a couple of steps, perfectly fine.
Thanks to his armor absorbing most of the impact.
‘Manageable.’
Conversely, Geumsom’s hammer struck the Troll’s thigh.
THWACK!
The Troll shrieked in pain and staggered.
But soon, steam rose from the wounded area, and flesh began rapidly regenerating.
‘Regeneration ability. Expected, but damn annoying.’
His admiration was brief.
Hammer and club clashed, sending tremendous shockwaves echoing through the cave.
‘Damn, its strength is no joke.’
Geumsom was pushed back several steps.
But he retreated no further.
Instead, gritting his teeth, he only advanced again.
What followed was truly a dialogue of bodies.
A battle of pure strength and resilience.
When the Troll swung its club, Geumsom received it with his armor and counterattacked with his hammer.
The Troll’s skin was tough and hard, but before the destructive power of the Legendary-grade hammer, it was helpless.
Moreover, Geumsom’s tenacity.
With that relentless movement, he persistently targeted only the Troll’s head.
THWACK!
THWACK!
“GRAAH!”
The rate of destruction was faster than the rate of regeneration.
Geumsom’s hammering, made even more powerful by the 10% additional damage from the Head Hunter effect.
Additionally, the newly unlocked Precision stat.
The Precision stat allowed him to accurately strike the Troll’s skull.
As a result, the Troll’s head began to gradually turn into mush.
As time passed, the scales of victory began to tilt.
Geumsom’s Legendary equipment still had stamina left, but the Troll’s regeneration had limits.
The speed at which Geumsom’s hammer shattered its skull was faster than the speed at which its wounds healed.
Grr… Grrr….
The Troll staggered, stepping back.
For the first time, fear clouded its eyes.
“It’s over.”
Geumsom didn’t miss that opening.
Putting all his strength into it, he delivered the final blow.
KRUNCH-!
The Troll’s head burst apart like a watermelon, and its massive body collapsed powerlessly.
In the end, after hundreds of hammer blows, the only one standing in the cave.
Was Geumsom.
.
.
.
[Your level has increased! Lv. 9]
[Your level has increased! Lv. 10]
[Achievement: The One Who Beat a Troll to Death]
[You were the first to solo hunt a Troll boss monster!]
[The system expresses awe at your monstrous strength and tenacity.]
[Effect 1: Damage dealt to large monsters increases by 15%.]
[Effect 2: You have acquired the passive skill ‘Low-grade Regeneration’.]
[Low-grade Regeneration Lv.1]
– Recovers 0.5% HP per second.
Reading the messages appearing before his eyes, his moment of relief was brief.
Geumsom began searching the Troll’s nest.
Amidst all sorts of junk and bones, one particularly white, smooth skull caught his eye.
‘Found it!’
Geumsom carefully placed the skull in his inventory.
Because this ordinary skull was the ‘key’ to move the old man’s heart.
After finishing the battle, Geumsom headed back to the remote hut in Neman Village.
The old man was still staring blankly into the distance.
Geumsom approached him and silently took out and placed the skull before him.
“…”
The old man’s gaze slowly.
Very slowly turned toward the skull.
At that moment, the old man’s body, which hadn’t moved an inch, trembled violently for the first time, as if convulsing.
The old man’s dry, wrinkled hand slowly, and with a trembling touch, traced the skull’s contours.
Forehead, nose, jawline…
“This wound… from falling from a tree as a child… My son… my son, Rian…”
For the first time in years.
A cracked voice escaped the old man’s lips.
His rough hand trembled as he caressed the skull.
“He went to the forest to gather herbs… and never returned… Everyone said he died… but I didn’t believe it… I thought he’d return someday… Even like this… even like this, you’ve returned, my son!”
Hot tears streamed from the old man’s eyes.
He hugged the skull to his chest and wept for a long while.
Geumsom merely watched the scene silently.
After a considerable time, the old man finally stopped crying.
He looked at Geumsom with a tear-stained face.
“Thank you, young man… Thanks to you… I could at least give my son a proper end.”
[Hidden Quest: The Old Man’s Resentment – Completed]
[Old Man ‘Yeom”s favorability has increased to ‘Maximum’.]
“This was something to pass down to my son… but now it’s no longer needed.”
[You have resolved Old Man Yeom’s long-held resentment.]
[Old Man Yeom expresses deep gratitude and gives you his family’s treasure.]
Simultaneously, a message appeared.
Before even finishing reading the message, Old Man Yeom continued explaining about an old parchment scroll.
“This is an item passed down through generations in our family. It is said to be able to turn a common object into a divine object with a god’s blessing… Now it’s an item I no longer need, so I’ll give it to you. I hope it aids you on your journey.”
[You have acquired the Scroll of God’s Whistle (Ancient).]
[When used, can grant a powerful god’s blessing to one chosen target. (Single-use)]
[The blessed target’s grade increases by one tier, and a unique latent ability blooms.]
The rough texture felt under his fingertips, bearing the full traces of time.
Geumsom received the parchment scroll with trembling hands.
And then, Old Man Yeom, who had disappeared somewhere.
Left alone, Geumsom looked down at the scroll in his hand.
‘The Scroll of God’s Whistle…’
An Ancient-grade item, one tier above even Legendary.
Grade-wise alone, it seemed like nothing special.
Actually, Geumsom could create Ancient-grade items by the final moments.
But the ‘Scroll of God’s Whistle’ contained power that couldn’t be explained by grade alone.
An item so extravagant, almost sacrilegious, for Geumsom, who had just reached level 10.
Holding it, Geumsom’s heart began pounding madly.
‘Wow, he’s really giving this?’
A quest he undertook believing Spear Demon Yeom Tae-hoon’s words.
But he didn’t truly expect to acquire it.
He thought maybe just completing the quest might change the reward.
Or that it might be delayed by giving a chain quest.
Because 《Repion》 is a game where rewards change drastically based on relationships with NPCs and the character’s situation.
The Yeom Tae-hoon of the past was over level 200, while the current Geumsom is barely level 10.
So he was worried.
That perhaps a different reward might be provided.
But the same reward came.
Exactly as Spear Demon Yeom Tae-hoon had said.
Actually having it in his hand made him hesitate to use it.
Because he knew the value of this item better than anyone.
‘Should I… use this?’
In his past life, this scroll was an ultra-rare item counted within the top ten fingers across all of 《Repion》.
It dropped with abysmal rates even in the final level 400+ content, the ‘War of the Gods’ raid.
On the rare days it appeared on the auction house, it commanded prices of tens or hundreds of billions of won, making not just 《Repion》 but global news stir.
And when the age of destruction arrived, it became an absolute item that couldn’t be bought with money.
‘It’s common to save it until obtaining the final item for use.’
A cheat-level item that forcibly raises the grade of a designated target and even blooms its latent potential.
So generally, upon obtaining this item, one doesn’t use it immediately.
Most rankers stored this scroll in the deepest part of their inventory.
For the day they would obtain the one ‘endgame item’ they would use for life.
‘If it were just that… such chaos wouldn’t have erupted.’
The ‘Whistle Scramble’ that accelerated the age of destruction.
And what ignited that scramble was due to a single person.
Blade Demon Ryu Shin.
A man who reached the ranks of humanity’s strongest with a single sword.
When the age of destruction arrived, that Ryu Shin used two of these scrolls on his sword ‘Moonlight’ to create a Mythic-grade weapon.
With that single sword, he sliced through a monster horde covering a city in one stroke; that image was still vivid in Geumsom’s mind.
The fact learned then.
That the ‘Scroll of God’s Whistle’ could be used redundantly.
The subsequent ‘Whistle Scramble’.
National leaders, as well as rankers.
It became a natural course for everyone to scramble to secure the ‘Scroll of God’s Whistle’.
Even if innocent blood was shed, national security came first.
Such an item was now in the hands of Geumsom at level 10.
No wonder Geumsom was conflicted.
Because his level was still low, and there wasn’t a proper place to use it.
Moreover, any decent equipment he could just make himself.
But Geumsom tore the Scroll of God’s Whistle.
Without a moment’s hesitation.
Riiiiip-
[Will you use the ‘Scroll of God’s Whistle’?]
[This choice cannot be undone.]
A message appeared before Geumsom’s eyes.
But he showed no sign of turning back from that decision.
“I’ll use it.”
With Geumsom’s firm answer, the scroll began to burn with a dazzling golden light.
