Ginseng served many purposes such as increasing one’s stats by consuming it or grinding it into ingredients for high rank potions. Its magic power could also be used to enchant items.

I didn’t have the equipment to make potions or a magician to help with enchantment. I could either eat it or sell it.

“Eating it is a bit…”

This ginseng should be worth 700 million won. I could avoid being scammed by selling it through the Violet Banquet. If I sold it, I could invest the money into stocks and make 4-5 billion won. That was enough to buy 7 ginseng.

“Argh, this is hard.”

The unexpected fortune increased my worries. For now, I put the ginseng in my bag. I could think about this first world problem after the Gari Mountain Dungeon.

***

I dusted off my hands in front of the cave.

“So this is why no one has discovered it yet.”

Huuu. I glanced behind me at the razor-sharp cliff that stood an inch away. The Gari Mountain Dungeon was located in the middle of the cliff, buried in moss and vines. I could feel my heart thumping. Even with parkour, the journey had been difficult. Without stigma’s magic power, I would be too scared to jump.

“Hmm.”

I looked into the dark cave before entering. My thousand-mile eyes could see through everything, including the dark. Not long afterward, I discovered a ghost that should’ve been the switch monster.

Like in the original story, the Gari Mountain Dungeon was an undead dungeon. Monsters included dullahans, banshees, and other undead that ranged from low-intermediate rank, grade 9 to grade 3. The boss should be a death knight, which I wouldn’t be able to beat. Not even Tomer had fully cleared this dungeon. A death knight was a high-intermediate rank, grade 1 monster that only a high rank hero could defeat.

I was satisfied with just finding the dungeon. With my current strength, beating the hidden stage would be impossi…

“No.”

I looked into my bag. Suddenly, the ginseng I picked up became more dazzling.

“…”

A hidden stage was a completely isolated space from the standard dungeon, making it significantly easier to clear. The quicker one cleared it, the better the reward. Above all, I worried if Tomer might come here sooner than planned if I didn’t clear this stage now. The hidden stage’s reward was a formless weapon called aether. It lacked a clear form and could easily be mistaken as a lump of magic power, but aether was considered a weapon because it had no form. Therefore, it could change into whatever the user desired. Furthermore, aether was an evolving weapon.

It was worth it, even if I had to sacrifice the ginseng. Of course, I wouldn’t use the entire thing. Instead, I broke off 3 of its 7 roots.

[7 year old Ginseng Root] — The root of a 7 year old ginseng. Contains condensed magic power.

First, I tried modifying the root’s setting.

— For 1 hour, will increase all variable stats by 4 points.

I thought it wouldn’t cost too much SP since I edited the effect it already had.

[You do not have enough SP.]

I was wrong. It seemed that raising stats required more restrictions than I thought. I had no choice but to try again.

— For 30 minutes, will increase all variable stats by 2 points.

[5 SP will be used. Would you like to save?]

This was satisfactory. I modified 2 ginseng roots with the above setting. My stats would increase by 4 points for 30 minutes after eating them. Other than magic power, my variable stats would be on par with Yoo Yeonha.

However, I gave the last ginseng root a different setting.

— Soaks into magic power and strengthens it.

[5 SP will be used. Would you like to save?]

I hit [save]. With this, I should be able to clear the hidden stage.

I confidently entered the cave. An extreme chill penetrated my body as soon as I entered.

“Ugh.”

I walked forward while regulating my breath.

Ssssss.

I heard a strange sound and hid behind the cave’s wall. I could see the hologram-like ghost wavering in the air even without the thousand-mile eyes. That was the switch monster. I could kill a monster of that level even without the ginseng.

I took out my Desert Eagle. My gift, Master Sharpshooter, had already reached grade 8. Piercing the vital point of such a slow monster was easier than push-ups.

I pulled the trigger.

The bullet phased through without doing any physical damage, but its magic power squarely hit between the ghost’s eyes. Then the ghost burst into light without a sound.

A strange wind swept by and absorbed the light like a vacuum.

I started following the incredibly faint stream of light to the hidden stage where an inferior witch waited.

After about 10 minutes, I finally arrived in an isolated space.

The witch that carried aether stood in the middle. I took out my laptop.

Whiiiish.

[Witch] — Evandel the Witch. Possesses a spirit body and produces low rank ghosts.

Countless monsters and devils appeared after Outcall, but witches were rare. It was difficult to classify a monster as a witch.

First, a witch had to have the ability to produce ghosts. A witch’s home was often called a stronghold because of the high number of undead they produced. Second, a witch needed a human body to properly use their magic. Finally, a witch also required intelligence on par with humans to efficiently command their ghosts.

The witch in front of me was inferior because she didn’t meet the second and third requirements.

However, Evandel would become infamous in the future.

Adult witches were difficult to deal with. The most efficient way to subjugate them was to kill them when they were young before its intelligence and body fully developed. However, djinns had raised Evandel in the original story. After reaching adulthood, she established her stronghold in an abandoned school in Suwon. This stronghold, known as Evandel’s Castle, became the most fearsome in history. The Hero Association famously considered it no different than a tower.

I would obtain 2 things from killing this inferior Evandel. One was aether and the other was Evandel’s seed. In the original story, Tomer only took aether and gave Evandel’s seed to the followers of Isabel. I needed to kill Evandel since I planned on taking both. There was only one problem…

“She’s a child.”

I hesitated because of her appearance. She had a tiny face and was only 140 cm tall. With soft hands, she squished the soul of the ghost I just killed. Tomer had killed that child and I had to do the same.

“Huuu.”

I had to do it. I was the one who created her anyways. I released stigma’s magic power after resolving myself. A bullet couldn’t kill a witch in a spirit body even if I modified it. That would only waste SP.

Light attribute, spear.

I breathed my will into stigma’s magic power. I desired a spear with the light attribute. It used all of stigma's magic power, but the size and sharpness came out horrible. The amount of stigma’s magic power wasn’t even enough to properly form an arrow, so a spear was too greedy.

However, I could easily sharpen the spear. I placed a ginseng root on it and increased its size and luster. Next, I swallowed the 2 modified ginseng roots from before. Immediately, I could feel my body surge with vitality.

A stat increase of 4 points… no, probably less since I took one after the other. Still, my body felt completely different from before. My muscles brimmed with strength as though they would explode. I felt hot, yet light like I was no longer human, but some sort of radioactive monster. Breathing roughly, I looked down at my body. It had bulked up and my 5 senses felt extremely sensitive. As I thought, the spear was the most powerful choice with amplified stats.

“Huup!”

I hurled the spear with all my strength. It shot through the air like lightning towards the target. The spear had already pierced Evandel’s head the moment I let go.

— …?

However, Evandel had survived with the spear in her head. She turned towards me and I felt an indescribable terror. A muddy stream began to form from her hands as a vengeful spirit took shape.

“Um, wait. Can we talk this out?”

— Uuaaang…

Evandel suddenly collapsed with a strange cry. The life energy disappeared from her body and a seed fell to the ground.

“Was that an instinctive reaction before death?”

After calming down, I went and picked up the seed. Then I proceeded into the dark to retrieve the slime-like weapon with a blue glow. This was the weapon that made Tomer one of the executives of Wicked. Before I reached for it, I checked its description with my laptop.

[Aether] [Mystic – Formless] [Evolving] A corporeal, but formless weapon. Will adhere to its master or a weapon, reinforcing their strength.

— Master selection: Will not adhere to another being once a master is chosen. 

— Physical body reinforcement: Will increase the variable stats of its owner by 0.6 points.

— Weapon reinforcement: Will adhere to its master’s weapon and strengthen the weapon’s attack power. Aether can also form into a weapon by itself. (Current aether rank – high rank)

— Evolving weapon: All of the above functions will evolve along with its owner. Other functions may develop depending on aether’s awakening.

I had obtained my weapon, but I didn't expect things to end so easily.

Clack clack clack—

Bones joined together to form the shape of humans. Soon, I found myself surrounded by skeletons.