Late at night, in the bustling entertainment district.
I crouched on the rooftop of a shop, straining my ears to hear if there were any screams nearby.
All I could hear was—
The clamor of lively conversation.
The clinking of wine glasses.
There was no trace of any criminal activity.
“….”
No prey here. I’ve been waiting for an hour now, but there hasn’t been any significant wrongdoing. I’ve certainly felt the decreasing number of criminals lately, but I didn’t expect it to be like this.
“Though, criminals aren’t like dungeon monsters that respawn after a set time, are they.”
“Kyaaa!”
Just as I thought that, I suddenly heard a young woman’s scream from somewhere. It wasn’t very clear due to barriers like walls blocking the sound.
“…Today’s targets will have to be whoever caused that sound. I hope they’re Awakened Ones.”
Occasionally, I encounter ordinary criminals who aren’t Awakened, and in those cases, it really feels like volunteering without compensation.
I focused my senses and moved toward the source of the sound. My abilities, approaching S-rank, had enhanced various physical capabilities, including my hearing.
The sound came from an old, scarcely populated shop’s office. The window advertised, “Immediate Loans, Recovery of Debts.”
I levitated my body using telekinesis and shattered the window to enter. There was no need to think carefully about these scum infesting such places.
“What?”
“Save me, please!”
There were several tattooed thugs attempting to forcibly undress a woman. She spotted me and pleaded for help.
“Dark Knight…!”
“Hey, just wait a second…”
These thugs appeared to be loan sharks, and from the situation, it seemed this woman was nearly a victim of rape. By now, I could easily deduce scenarios like these from a quick glance.
“This woman didn’t repay her loan, so you were planning to make her pay with her body. Borrowing money and failing to repay it is a bigger sin, right?”
These were the words I preemptively recited for the thugs.
“T-this woman borrowed 200 million won and said she couldn’t pay us back. We’ve lost 200 million! How- how is this possible!”
The thug twitched in shock as I had accurately described what he was about to say—almost as if he’d seen a ghost.
Through my Qi Sense, I confirmed that two of them were non-Awakened, and four of them were Awakened, though only at the D- or E-ranks—insignificant, yet valuable given the current situation.
“It’s only because villains are so rare these days.”
I thought to myself as I warned a woman lying unconscious on the sofa.
“Hey, woman. You should leave quickly.”
The moment I finished speaking, the woman got up and ran toward the exit. One of the thugs tried to grab her as a hostage, but I cut his throat cleanly using the skill “Beheading Knife.”
“It’s either die or pass out. Charge!”
“To Hell with you!”
The bravado of the thugs was undiminished as they shouted and rushed toward me. I cut them down one by one, using the “Succession” skill.
It took me a minute to finish them. It was as easy as wringing a child’s wrist.
“Kraaah!”
The last one screamed as green flames enveloped him and he met his demise.
————-<Succession>————-
[Strength permanently increased by 21]
[Agility permanently increased by 44]
[Intelligence permanently increased by 11]
[Stamina permanently increased by 20]
[Skill ‘Holy Wings’ obtained]
———————————–
The bodies of the thugs burned into ash, and a red aura flowed into my body. Now, it’s that exciting skill-gacha moment.
<<Skill Obtained>>
————-<Skill>————-
◈ Name
Holy Wings (Wings of Light)
◈ Rank
000 F
◈ Description
Forms light-composed wings on the back; enables 3D maneuvering.
———————————–
“Ha Ha.”
I chuckled softly. This was like finding a pearl in the mud. I never would have dreamed of obtaining such a rare ‘wings’ skill from these low-level enemies. Moreover, these weren’t just regular wings—they were 3D maneuverable and a tier-zero scam skill.
Ordinarily, bird-like wings are inconvenient during combat. Flapping wings alone are a burden and don’t allow for advanced maneuvers like rapid acceleration or stopping.
‘Then I might as well give the wings skill to Park Hayeon down the line. What a relief.’
The only 3D maneuverable wings I knew of were originally from a game where the player, as the protagonist, could use them effortlessly. But now, because of me, I had to decide whether to keep it or pass it on to Park Hayeon. Unexpected luck solved this dilemma for me.
“Divine Wings.”
I gave the skill a test run.
In a flash, the dim office lit up. A lavender-colored set of wings appeared on my back, though they were more like light waves emanating from a wing bone.
“Ugh…”
And then came the terrible headache. It felt as if my brain was overworked, similar to pushing telekinesis to its limits. Also, the mana usage was enormous. Without Dragon Heart’s mana, using this skill would’ve been impossible.
“Overload”
My entire magic rune lit up, assisting the computation, and the headache finally subsided.
‘So, that’s why I wondered why such a scam skill would ever belong to a thug.’
Ordinarily, this skill would be unusable and effectively non-existent. Considering the mana and computational demands, an intelligence rank of at least B would only allow someone to cast it, let alone use it properly. Even I could feel the massive mana flow from my Dragon Heart to the wings, giving me goosebumps.
“Ooooh.”
I levitated my body in the air using the wings, moving it along the Z-axis. The sensation of floating was euphoric.
“Hm…”
However, the enormous computation load on my brain, combined with the tremendous mana drain from my wings, was making me lose consciousness.
‘I need to increase my intelligence rank soon.’
With an intelligence ranking of B and with the help of magic runes, I would probably be able to use this skill without issues. For now, I was barely pulling it off.
‘Anyway, it’s becoming really hard to find lawbreakers. What should I do? Dungeon respawns are still on summer break.’
Hunting somewhere far off using the wings was out of the question—I could only maintain a speed similar to a bicycle at the moment.
Having farmed a useful skill, it was time to test out ‘Skill Decomposition’.
“Status Window.”
————<Status Window>————-
◈ Name
n̶̡̡̛̟̠͈͎̟̍͜͝͡͠ų̢̰̭̲̋͒̓͊̀̒́͘͡l̴̳͙͓̞̻̝͇̥͆̋͂̉̕͡͠͠l̨̛̫̖̝͓̮̳͓͆̃̈̈́̈́͆̈̕
◈ Stats
[Strength 441 A](+1100)
[Agility 084 A](+1300)
[Intelligence 459 C](+800)
[Luck 519 F](+1000)
[Overall C]
◈ Skills
[Succession 012 S]
[Dragon Heart — A]
[Telekinesis 841 C]
[Magic Tattoo — B]
[Polymorph — S]
[Holy Wings 012 F]
[Pyrokinesis 004 F]
[Boar Charge 005 F]
[Body Reinforcement 120 F]
———————————–
I opened the ‘Succession’ skill interface and dragged the ‘Pyrokinesis’ skill towards ‘Holy Wings’.
“One disassembled skill cannot be returned. Are you sure you want to proceed?”
YES.
There’s no reason to hesitate. I immediately tapped the ‘YES’ icon that appeared in the corner of my vision.
————-<Succession>————-
[Skill ‘Pyrokinesis’ lost.]
[Skill ‘Holy Wings’ Proficiency Increase: +44.]
———————————–
Taking advantage of the momentum, I broke down the rest.
————-<Succession>————-
[Skill ‘Body Reinforcement’ lost.]
[Skill ‘Holy Wings’ Proficiency Increase: +21.]
———————————–
————-<Succession>————-
[Skill ‘Boar Charge’ lost.]
[Skill ‘Holy Wings’ Proficiency Increase: +37.]
———————————–
I closed the chaotic windows that kept appearing before me. This revealed one fact: different skills provide different amounts of proficiency upon decomposition.
“Higher quality skills offer more proficiency, I see.”
Anyway, it seems I can increase the proficiency of ‘Holy Wings’ quickly like this. Not much is known about this new skill, but I hope that with each rank-up, it improves operational efficiency and mana efficiency.
“I should head back then.”
Leaving behind the thugs’ ash-covered corpses, I walked out of the loan shark’s office.
