RMS 05

Chapter 5

Han Si-woo first accepted the offer.

At that moment, a message window appeared before his eyes.

[Transcendent Legion]

[You can create soldiers by consuming Soul Stones.]

[The higher the soldier’s grade, the more Soul Stones will be consumed.]

[Created soldiers can be summoned during battle.]

[Soldiers will obey their master’s commands.]

[Soldiers will also grow as their master grows.]

[Cannot be summoned during layer challenges.]

[1. Dark Knight (0) – Soul Stones Required: 1]

[Soul Stones Owned – 1]

‘Can I turn the monsters from the layers into soldiers?’

Han Si-woo took the Soul Stone out of his inventory.

He already knew that it was an item usable in the Transcendence Hall.

But he never expected there to be a separate system like this.

‘Should I make one right away? It should be useful when I level up.’

Even the Dark Knight was a Level 100 monster.

With an interested look, Han Si-woo nodded and spoke.

“Create Dark Knight.”

[One Soul Stone will be consumed to create a Dark Knight.]

The Soul Stone in Han Si-woo’s hand began to tremble.

The moment the trembling stopped, the Soul Stone shot out of his hand like a bullet.

It burst in midair and began scattering pure-white powder.

Sssrrr-

Soon, a pure-white crystal touched the ground.

Then a black figure began to rise from it, just like a seed sprouting from the soil.

Before long, a Dark Knight appeared.

However, its appearance was slightly different from that of the monster Dark Knight.

“…Not bad.”

Unlike the rough and bulky appearance of the original Dark Knight, this one had a slim and refined appearance.

Anyone else who saw it would never think it was a monster Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight quietly looked up at the sky before slowly lowering its gaze.

Its pale-gray eyes turned toward Han Si-woo, and it dropped to one knee.

Clank-!

As if showing respect to its lord, the Dark Knight drew its sword.

Then it placed the sword across both hands and held it out toward Han Si-woo.

-My lord, please grant me knighthood.

Dark Knights were originally knights who had failed to find a master.

Knowing that, Han Si-woo took the sword from the Dark Knight’s hands.

[Dark Knight’s Sword]

[Attack Power – 14–17]

[Value – 5]

After checking the item, Han Si-woo fulfilled the Dark Knight’s wish.

He lightly tapped both of its shoulders with the sword.

The Dark Knight raised its head and held out both hands.

But Han Si-woo had no intention of giving the sword back.

“I’ll borrow the sword for a while. Mine just broke.”

-Excuse me?

“What?”

-I-If that is what my lord wishes…

The Dark Knight muttered in a sorrowful voice.

But Han Si-woo didn’t care.

‘Saved some money. A sword this good would cost quite a bit.’

The Dark Knight’s Sword was an item that might drop once after killing hundreds of Dark Knights.

It was far better than the standard longswords sold at the Center, which had an attack power of 4–5.

Moreover, thanks to the passive skill Weapon Awakening, its attack power was guaranteed to be fixed at 17.

Now that he had obtained such a useful longsword, he had no intention of giving it back right away.

“I’ll give it back soon. Don’t look so sad.”

At Han Si-woo’s words, the Dark Knight hurriedly touched its face.

But since it was wearing a helmet, there was no way its expression could be seen.

“I’m heading out, then. Get some rest.”

-Yes, my lord. I shall await your command.

Ping-!

After returning to his room, Han Si-woo checked the time.

Not a single second had passed since he entered the Transcendence Hall.

‘So I don’t have to worry about time at all.’

With a pleased smile, Han Si-woo collapsed onto his bed.

Then he stared at the ceiling and thought.

‘Domain Declaration can only be used once a day. My stats have increased, and I have a decent sword now, but hunting a Dark Knight without Domain Declaration would still be difficult.’

In the end, he had no choice but to level up.

Grow stronger in the real world, and grow stronger through the Transcendence Hall.

He had two ways to become stronger.

“…Not bad.”

According to his plan, he had intended to leave the house late in the evening.

But his mother scolded him for going out to drink again and told him to get a job.

Faced with his mother’s authority, he had no choice but to quietly go to sleep.

‘Even saying I’m going out to level up now that I’m an Awakened doesn’t work!’

Instead, she scolded him for being lazy and asked what a good-for-nothing like him was going to do by leveling up.

Just how pathetic had his past self been?

In the end, it wasn’t until early the next morning that he quietly opened his bedroom door and slipped outside.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. You’re up early?”

“I should get up early. I have to head out soon.”

At Han Si-woo’s words, his mother quietly turned her gaze toward him.

The silent look clearly asked where he was going, and Han Si-woo smiled.

“Now that I’m an Awakened, I have a lot to do, including leveling up.”

His mother let out a small sigh.

After hesitating for a moment, she spoke.

“Si-woo, how about getting a job?”

She wasn’t simply telling him to get a job as a joke or to scold him like usual.

Realizing that, Han Si-woo’s expression hardened.

“I heard it’s really dangerous for Awakened to go in and out of dungeons. No, you can tell just by looking at them. It was even all over the news recently. I know that, and yet…”

His mother’s expression made Han Si-woo serious.

He realized that the only emotion behind her words was concern.

He also realized that this was why she had tried to stop him from going out yesterday.

“It’s hard for a mother to watch her son go to places like that. Or maybe you could take an exam and get a job at the Center… No, you would have to be good at studying for that. Anyway…”

“Mother, don’t be surprised.”

Han Si-woo quietly interrupted her and summoned the Dark Knight.

Swoosh-

A faint breeze blew through the living room.

And when the breeze faded, a tall, imposing Dark Knight stood beside Han Si-woo.

“Oh my!”

“I told you not to be surprised.”

After calming his startled mother, Han Si-woo spoke.

“That will protect me. So it’ll be okay, right?”

“W-What is that? Where did it suddenly…?”

“It’s my summon. It’ll protect me, so don’t worry.”

Han Si-woo lightly patted the Dark Knight on the chest.

Thump.

The metal breastplate rang out with a deep sound.

“Right?”

-Yes. Upon my sword, I swear to protect my lord—

The Dark Knight reached toward its waist.

But there was no sword there.

Han Si-woo had taken it.

-…Upon my life, I swear to protect my lord.

“That is what it says. What do you think?”

Han Si-woo’s mother continued staring at the Dark Knight with a shocked expression.

Then she looked at Han Si-woo and let out a deep sigh.

“It does look strong… Then please take good care of my son.”

-Yes. I swear upon everything I have to protect my lord.

The Dark Knight made its vow in a solemn voice.

Touched by the dramatic scene, Han Si-woo yawned and spoke.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll have breakfast and head out.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Han Si-woo was about to send the Dark Knight back.

But at that moment, the bedroom door opened and Han Si-yeon appeared.

At the same time, a scream rang out.

“Ah! W-What is that!?”

Han Si-woo arrived at Peace Park.

Before long, the area would be closed to the public because of the emergence of a large-scale dungeon.

Even now, dungeons were appearing one after another as signs of the coming disaster began to emerge, and there were countless dungeons that the Center had yet to discover.

Han Si-woo intended to take advantage of one of them.

‘It’s peaceful, just as the name suggests. Mainly because there isn’t a single person here.’

The park was famous as a walking trail, but the fact that dungeons were appearing there had erased that advantage.

Anyway, the dungeon Han Si-woo was aiming for had a recommended level of around 50.

Not so difficult that he would be pushing himself too hard, but not so easy that it would be meaningless.

Even with the Dark Knight, it could become dangerous if the dungeon was beyond what he could handle himself.

[Would you like to enter the Old Lizardman Dungeon?]

[Recommended Level – 52]

Han Si-woo immediately entered the dungeon.

He frowned at the distinctive fishy smell of the Lizardman Dungeon and summoned the Dark Knight.

-You called, my lord.

“Lead the way.”

At Han Si-woo’s command, the Dark Knight began walking with proud, steady steps.

There was an obvious trap directly in front of the Dark Knight’s feet, but Han Si-woo deliberately ignored it.

This was the perfect opportunity to test the Dark Knight’s combat ability.

Clank-!

The moment the Dark Knight stepped on the trap, a spring snapped out, and something hidden inside the trap bit into its ankle.

“Chirrreeek!”

As the trap activated, the Lizardmen hiding nearby suddenly jumped out.

They must have been extremely surprised to see their own trap catch someone.

They had planned to ambush their enemy at that moment.

But what greeted them was something completely unexpected.

Crack-!

The Dark Knight’s fist slammed into the face of one of the Lizardmen.

At the same time, a gruesome cracking sound rang out, and another Lizardman collapsed to the ground.

It had lost something that had been attached to its shoulder.

‘So this is what you get from being a Level 100 monster.’

The Dark Knight didn’t even flinch at the Lizardmen’s ambush as it continued taking them down.

It was as if it were showing him exactly what a difference in levels meant, slaughtering them one-sidedly.

The sharp weapons the Lizardmen desperately swung had no effect against the Dark Knight’s armor.

Even its casual blows were enough to send the Lizardmen tumbling.

A short while later, the Dark Knight finished off the dozen or so Lizardmen that had ambushed them and stopped moving.

Then, with a disciplined motion, it turned toward Han Si-woo.

-My lord, the enemies have been defeated.

“Good work. Let’s keep going.”

At the command of its supreme master, the Dark Knight prepared to move again.

Seeing this, Han Si-woo pulled a sword from his inventory.

The Dark Knight’s eyes briefly lit up when it saw the sword it had lost, but they soon dimmed in disappointment.

It was obvious that Han Si-woo was preparing to fight with the sword.

The Dark Knight had secretly hoped that Han Si-woo might return its sword as a reward for this battle.

‘Leveling up is pretty fast. I’m already Level 19. No wonder this is a Level 50 dungeon.’

With the Dark Knight leading the way, Han Si-woo continued deeper into the dungeon and soon spotted another group.

They were dozing around a campfire, unaware that the guards at the entrance had been defeated.

Han Si-woo gave the Dark Knight a look, and it immediately charged forward.

Thud-!

Every time the Dark Knight swung its fist after charging into the group of Lizardmen, another Lizardman went flying.

Han Si-woo’s eyes lit up as he watched.

Clang-!

An arrow bounced off the Dark Knight’s armor.

Looking in the direction it had come from, Han Si-woo spotted several Lizardmen aiming at the Dark Knight with bows.

But they still hadn’t noticed Han Si-woo.

‘Ranged attacks. If I were alone, they would be pretty annoying.’

Of course, the Dark Knight’s defense was exceptional even among monsters of the same level.

The arrows fired by mere Lizardmen couldn’t hurt it, or even leave a scratch on its armor.

Holding his breath, Han Si-woo moved stealthily before suddenly throwing himself forward.

Thud-!

A strike powered by both his acceleration and body weight.

The sword he had taken from the Dark Knight pierced cleanly through the back of a Lizardman’s head.

As the Lizardman convulsed with a dying scream, Han Si-woo kicked its back, pulled the sword free, and adjusted his grip.

“Chiek!”

The Lizardmen holding bows were thrown into a panic by Han Si-woo’s sudden attack.

And just as they hurriedly drew their daggers—

Slash-!

Han Si-woo cut down another Lizardman in an instant and backed away.

Excluding the two he had already taken down, three remained.

‘I should be able to handle this many by myself.’

Han Si-woo glanced at the Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight was currently fighting a dozen or so Lizardmen, throwing them around and stomping them into the ground.

Han Si-woo turned his attention back to his own situation and tightened his grip on the sword.