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chapter 23
[Quest completed.]
[You have received 100,000 gold.]
[You have received Asla’s Secret Manual.]
[10 stat points have been awarded.]
[Experience has increased by 10,000.]
[You have leveled up by 1.]
[1 stat point has been awarded.]
-ㅅㅂ He actually cleared it.
-Check the skills already.
-Is a real Hidden coming?
-Try it already.
-Please.
Urged on by the viewers, Hanbit took the green book into his hands.
As he turned the cover, a hologram window bordered in gold rose up.
[Would you like to use it? (Yes/No)]
Beep—
The moment he touched the ‘Yes’ button, the hologram vanished.
Poof—!
The book turned into smoke and disappeared.
At that moment, messages appeared.
[Skill Swiftness (Rank 1 – Unique) has been deleted.]
[Skill Basic Swordsmanship (Rank 1 – Unique) has been deleted.]
[Hidden Spirit Skill Wind’s Movement (Rank 1 – Epic) has been added.]
[Hidden Spirit Skill Wind Swordsmanship (Rank 2 – Epic) has been added.]
-Wow.
-It really popped.
-Hidden + Spirit + Epic holy shit lol
-It gives two skills?
-Sacrificing normal skills as offerings.
-So Swiftness actually had a use;
-The community’s gonna explode. lol
[소과금 님 has donated 50,000 won.]
[No, seriously, what the hell.]
[ㅇㅇ 님 has donated 70,000 won.]
[Is this for real;]
‘This is interesting too.’
The vanished Basic Swordsmanship and Swiftness skills.
Both were abilities necessary for this very moment.
In reality, skills were ingrained into the body, so there was nothing to disappear in the first place.
Rather, seeing it like this, it felt as though everything had been clearly organized.
“This really makes no sense…….”
Yeonwoo muttered, unable to hide his shock.
The words Hidden, Spirit, and Epic were far too much for him to process at once.
Ding—
[검신 님 has donated 200,000 won.]
[Demo ㄱㄱ]
At that moment, a message carrying a large donation appeared.
Its contents stirred up the chat as well.
-ㄷㄱㄷㄱ
-Hidden Spirit swordsmanship skill → unpredictable
-ㅅㅂ No mana cost either, right?
-Hurry up, teacher.
“Thank you for the donation! Hyung, hurry and try it!”
Snapping back to his senses, Yeonwoo reacted immediately.
‘Swordsmanship gets active skills from Rank 3.’
The viewers’ thoughts were divided, but it made sense.
Swordsmanship, archery, and similar skills—excluding magic—were classified as passive up to Rank 2.
That was why there was both a strong longing for active skills and a certain sense of pride around them.
Swoosh—
Holding the sword, Hanbit twisted his body toward empty space.
Memories from the past were vivid.
The sensation of spirit power settling in was recreated astonishingly well.
‘Is it because of Wind’s Movement?’
Hanbit noticed the changes in his movements.
The creaking sensation that had persisted was easing to a noticeable degree.
It felt even more satisfying than when the Swiftness skill was applied.
He hadn’t tried more expensive gear, but at the very least, it felt like it could bridge a whole tier of difference.
Chirp—!
As he took his stance, the sylph spirit that had been on his shoulder scattered.
Immediately after, wind began gathering around the sword.
Whooo—
The strengthening wind condensed like a small vortex.
And at the moment the raging flow settled—
Hanbit brought his sword down.
Shiiing—!
With a sharp sound, the blade cut diagonally.
The trajectory became a crescent-shaped wind that shot straight ahead.
KABOOM—!
The wind slammed into the cave wall and dispersed rapidly.
Where it vanished, a long, straight groove had been carved into the surface.
“…Active? Hyung, did you just use an active skill?”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Holy shit, seriously.
-Not just an active—this eats Rank 4 for breakfast;
-I’m quitting RP.
-Why quit? You gotta get that.
-Balder’s the gatekeeper.
-Signing up for a kendo dojo today.
-35 years old (white belt)
Swordsmanship that launched wind dealt a powerful shock to the viewers.
Both those who hadn’t obtained active skills yet and those who already had felt the same.
“How did you get it before me?!”
Yeonwoo’s genuine resentment burst out.
It looked half like acting, but he did seem a bit wronged.
“Since it’s a spirit skill, does it really not use mana at all? Then can you fire it infinitely?”
“It doesn’t use mana, but it’s not infinite. At my current level, it needs preparation time.”
“That’s still broken…….”
Pure spirit power does not consume mana.
However, unless it’s a space overflowing with spirit power like this, the process of gathering wind is necessary.
Compared to the advantages, it wasn’t much of a risk at all.
‘There are people who use it strangely, too.’
Spirits leave traces all over the world.
Because of that, there are also those who choose danger, straying from orthodox methods.
You could say they forcibly use spirit power by consuming their own mana and life.
Rare as it is, you encounter such users even in Edlen’s story.
Ding—
[이세계검사 님 has donated 10,000 won.]
[Any hints?]
-Oh.
-Give a hint and I’ll bark like a dog.
-Woof! Grrrr… woof!
-Not given yet.
The word ‘hint’ reignited the fire.
The desperate desire to try this skill was palpable.
Hanbit decided to slip in a small lie.
“A hint? It’s a hidden skill, so I was actually considering whether to sell the info.”
He spoke in a voice that sounded genuinely conflicted.
Naturally, the bait was extremely sweet.
[소드미스터 님 has donated 100,000 won.]
[Please.]
[검제 님 has donated 150,000 won.]
[Are you abandoning us? It’s the end of the month, my limit’s tight;]
[검신 님 has donated 200,000 won.]
[How much do you want?]
The viewers immediately responded by pouring in donations.
He had planned to reveal the information on stream from the start, but the flow was too good.
‘How much should I reveal?’
In truth, any hint about spirits would just be obvious information.
After all, without one’s own skill, it would be impossible to obtain regardless.
But even that fundamental information was desperately needed by players.
Ding—
As he turned the question over in his mind, a much louder alert rang out.
Hanbit froze as he turned his gaze.
[아방가르드 님 has donated 1,000,000 won.]
[Hello, Black Dragon. This is streamer Avant-Garde. Could we talk for a moment?]
“Huh? That’s really Avant-Garde, right?”
-?
-Is that legit?
-Yeah, that Vanga guy’s been running a recorder nonstop since yesterday.
-Vanga, go farm or something.
Judging by Yeonwoo’s and the viewers’ reactions, he seemed to be a fairly famous streamer.
‘One million won?’
Naturally, Hanbit’s attention went to the amount first.
One million won.
A single donation carried that number.
But the shock didn’t last long.
[Powerbridge Co., Ltd. has donated 2,000,000 won.]
[Hello. This is Kim Juho from Powerbridge Co., Ltd., RP-dedicated team. We’d like to inquire about purchasing hidden skill information.]
-Whoa, Powerbridge?
-Aren’t they mid-sized?
-Don’t they have a semi-vanguard team?
-Corporations are coming in too. holy shit lol
The appearance of a fairly large company.
Amazingly, it was only the beginning.
[Taeseong Co., Ltd. has donated 3,000,000 won.]
[MOKA has donated 3,000,000 won.]
[Yeonhwa Gaming has donated 5,000,000 won.]
…….
As the number of companies increased and the donation amounts grew larger,
Hanbit could only stare at the piling messages.
***
“The spirits will always be with you. Always commune with them deeply in your heart, and pursue balanced growth of the body…….”
Asla’s advice went on for quite a while.
It stemmed from his gratitude toward and sincerity for spirits.
“Thank you. Then I’ll be heading out now.”
“Alright. Ah, this is just an old man’s worry, but—”
Just as Hanbit turned to leave, Asla raised a hand to stop him.
Then, with a slightly darkened expression, he continued.
“If you plan to stay in Edlen, it would be wise to be cautious.”
“Cautious of what?”
“An unknown, unsettling presence has appeared and disappeared intermittently. I couldn’t find it in the forest, but there’s a chance something exists within the city.”
Asla added that he’d been thoroughly searching the surroundings since yesterday.
Hanbit, who knew exactly what it was, nodded.
“I understand. I’ll be careful.”
“It may be something capable of harming spirits. Stay on guard at all times.”
With that exchange, Hanbit and Yeonwoo moved outside.
They used an exit formed by the power of wind.
“Hey, they’re out over there.”
“Shit, can’t we grab them and squeeze something out?”
“Don’t get cocky. They said they’ll release the info.”
On the way to the city, countless players’ gazes converged on them.
They didn’t even try to hide what they wanted.
‘No, how much is this piling up?’
The donations that had been pouring in earlier were still continuing.
Just counting the seven-digit amounts, it had already far surpassed twenty million won.
He had expected a certain level of donations, but even that estimate had been far too conservative.
‘Hidden skills really are something.’
There were two main reasons he’d revealed the process of obtaining this skill on stream.
First, to lay the groundwork for eventually streaming on his own.
Second, to gauge people’s reactions to hidden skills and the revenue that followed.
Streaming itself would require continued effort, but his judgment regarding hidden skills was largely complete.
‘Selling it would’ve been awkward.’
Once you start trading information, responsibility follows for the seller.
Passing on the experience he’d built through fifty-five runs as-is was practically impossible.
That was especially true for power related to spirits.
Just imagining buyers filing complaints because they couldn’t obtain the skill gave him a headache.
He had information and items in mind to sell, but caution was necessary.
“I think we need to sort this out before moving on.”
Hanbit stopped and looked at the camera.
“Since you all donated, I’ll just make this hidden skill information public.”
He spoke with a tone that suggested he’d agonized over the decision.
Yeonwoo, whom he’d already given a heads-up, wasn’t surprised.
-You’re really giving it out?
-Is this what confidence looks like;
-If you sold it, wouldn’t it be at least hundreds of millions?
-Feels like money isn’t even the issue here.
-Shut up and worship.
[검신 님 has donated 100,000 won.]
[You’re really doing this.]
[아방가르드 님 has donated 200,000 won.]
[Black Dragon? Sorry, but could you lift the message restriction for a bit?]
-Vanga, read the room.
-Shut it.
Streamer Avant-Garde tried slipping in a request through a donation.
In this game, you can block messages from players not on your friends list.
You can change the setting, but once lifted, messages would obviously flood in like crazy.
Considering Rashten, outside contact wasn’t very appealing.
“Please send any contact through him.”
Hanbit patted the shoulder of the younger man standing beside him.
Yeonwoo, who was already checking messages, nodded.
“Whether it’s a proposal or anything else, just organize it briefly and send it. Depending on the content, we’ll consider it with an open mind.”
He continued explaining various things to the camera.
When things were roughly wrapped up, Hanbit said,
“I’ll post the information in writing after today’s stream ends. It’s not that amazing, but it’ll be better than nothing.”
-I’ll lick anything like a dog.
-We already saw it live so it’s fine.
-Anything’s good.
The viewers, who needed any information they could get, responded positively.
‘Given the amount donated, maybe I should explain it a bit more thoroughly.’
The accumulated donation total tugged at Hanbit’s heart.
Even if the information was going to be public, he had no intention of sharing something completely meaningless.
Even if he explained everything from start to finish, they wouldn’t be able to replicate it anyway.
“Hyung, but if you tell them, won’t someone just monopolize it again?”
Yeonwoo voiced his concern, thinking of Rashten.
The possibility of Rashten repeating their tyranny.
It was a natural worry, but this time was different.
“No, monopolizing it won’t happen.”
“They could take control of the area and regulate other players. Ah, would that turn into a war or something?”
-Control means war.
-Are we seeing a vanguard war this time?
-This’ll be a total mess.
-Backstab of backstab of backstab of backstab.
-Yeah, first place is already decided.
There wasn’t a single company that would ignore a hidden skill.
If even vanguards got mixed in and competed to monopolize it, it would indeed be chaos.
But in Hanbit’s mind, the outcome was much simpler.
“If you pull that kind of crap in front of Asla, you’re out. You’ll be shunned by the spirits to begin with.”
“Really?”
“The spirits see a lot more than you think.”
Chirp—!
As his name came up, the spirit returned to its bird form and let out a clear cry.
Before spirits, there is no falsehood or corruption.
It was a saying like a proverb that had spread throughout the other world.
If someone did something stupid, they’d be the one to pay the price.
“Let’s go.”
Recalling scenes from his memories, Hanbit began walking toward the city.
