Chapter 257: Chapter 257
Su-ho trembled with exhilaration as the system notification flashed before him.
His prayer had worked.
Without hesitation, he refreshed his status window:
The stats that had just reached Yellow grade now stood tall at 99 across the board.
And all it had cost was five bonus points.
“Damn... This is the real deal.”
When was the last time something had felt this thrilling?
No doubt about it—it wasn’t just impressive. This was monumental.
‘Even hitting Unity at Red or Orange is a big deal. But Yellow?’
He wasn’t even at Two-Star rank yet and already had three Yellow stats.
No—once he cleared this Gate and leveled up, all three would likely hit Green.
‘Three Green stats before even reaching Two-Star... Unreal.’
Laughing aloud, Su-ho gripped the Hammer of the Blacksmith once more.
“Alright, let’s keep the momentum going!”
His hammer rang out again, cheerfully pounding away at another Ironclad Soldier Fragment.
Meanwhile, deep within the silent furnace—
The Molten Dragon and its Ironclad Soldiers were on high alert, tense and watchful after Su-ho had mysteriously vanished.
But just as their vigilance began to wane—
[Javelin has activated.]
[Guiyeong Spear has activated.]
No sooner did Su-ho reappear than he launched himself straight at a marked Ironclad Soldier.
He instantly executed it and dragged the corpse into his sub-dimensional House.
The Molten Dragon’s tail lashed out at where Su-ho had been just seconds before—but he was already gone.
The dragon roared in fury once more.
How much time passed after that?
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! CLAAANG!!
[Square Fusion has activated.]
[You have successfully crafted a material.]
[You’ve obtained Ironclad Soldier Fragment (A) of the Molten Dragon.]
After countless failures and attempts, Su-ho had crafted another 23% resistance fragment.
The moment he confirmed its stats, he socketed it into the Hammer.
[‘Ironclad Soldier Fragment of the Molten Dragon’ has been equipped in Socket 2.]
[Fire Resistance increased by 23%.]
With the second socket now filled, Su-ho clenched his fist.
He had finally reached 96% Fire Resistance.
‘Preparation... complete.’
How long had it taken to reach this point?
Now, it was time for all that effort to pay off.
He holstered the Hammer and opened the exit portal. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥
Outside, the Molten Dragon and its Ironclads were still on edge.
With a confident smirk, Su-ho stepped through the portal toward them.
Blue flames, the signature of the furnace’s peak temperature, licked the air around him.
Su-ho couldn’t help but smile as soon as he breathed in the outside air.
Even though the searing blue flames of the Molten Furnace Gate raged around him, it felt no different than stepping inside from the winter cold.
This was no longer heat—it was comfort.
[The Molten Dragon uses Heatstorm.]
The dragon, enraged, fired a storm of blazing fury the moment it spotted him.
At most, like a gentle blow dryer in low mode from across the room.
But the wind pressure was strong.
So Su-ho activated Baekgeunchu.
[Baekgeunchu has activated.]
One of the grappling techniques from the Martial Archive, and precursor to Manggeunchu. It added the weight of a hundred geun to the user.
Now firmly grounded, Su-ho stood comfortably.
The Ironclad Soldiers started moving too.
Their master was spewing his fury—how could they just stand idle?
With their kite shields leading the charge, they rushed toward Su-ho.
Calmly, Su-ho raised his Blood Sword.
He stood his ground, quietly muttering his skills.
[Blessing has activated.]
[Holy Enchant has activated.]
As the power surged, divine light wrapped around his crimson blade.
[Magic Detection has activated.]
[Blacksmith’s Eye has activated.]
One after another, he activated a second wave of skills.
Thanks to the upgraded Forge Eye and maxed-out Magic Detection, he could now see the Soldiers' cores and their gridded weak points.
Fully prepared, Su-ho swung his sword.
[Cloud Cutter has activated.]
A red arc intertwined with radiant white light carved through the furnace air like a half-moon.
And the moment it passed—
[You have slain an Ironclad Soldier of the Molten Dragon.]
[You have slain an Ironclad Soldier of the Molten Dragon.]
[You have slain an Ironclad Soldier of the Molten Dragon.]
[You have slain an Ironclad Soldier of the Molten Dragon.]
They dropped like wheat before a scythe.
Every swing had landed squarely on a weak point.
‘I didn’t think it’d be one-shot kills, though.’
[All stats have increased by 1.]
[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]
The Ironclads didn’t show their levels, so he hadn’t expected much XP—but apparently, it added up.
He had killed quite a few while collecting fragments, after all.
But this level-up wasn’t ordinary.
More system messages followed:
[Your Strength stat has reached 100.]
[Strength has advanced to the next tier.]
[Congratulations! Strength is now Green grade!]
[Your Magic stat has reached 100.]
[Magic has advanced to the next tier.]
[Congratulations! Magic is now Green grade!]
[Your Perception stat has reached 100.]
[Perception has advanced to the next tier.]
[Congratulations! Perception is now Green grade!]
All stats had increased by 1 due to the level up.
With that, every stat that had been sitting at 99 # Nоvеlight # hit 100 and evolved to Green grade.
But the announcements didn’t end there.
[You are the first player to reach a Green stat.]
[You have achieved a great milestone. 10 bonus stat points have been awarded.]
Ten bonus points—just like that.
But Su-ho was more surprised by why they were awarded.
‘I’m the first player to hit a Green stat?’
Come to think of it—he remembered.
Players who were the first to reach a colored stat tier had gotten special bonuses.
But he hadn’t expected to be the one to do it for Green.
Still, the timing made sense.
There weren’t many players over level 200 yet.
And most of them likely had, at best, one Yellow stat.
‘Pushing a single stat to Green is hard enough. Unless you’ve done as many side quests and milestones as I have.’
In any case—he was first.
With a grin, Su-ho invested all 11 of his new bonus points into Strength.
The surge of power was staggering—beyond anything he’d felt before.
New Ironclads approached.
Su-ho wore a twisted grin as he whipped his sword like a lash, cleaving through them one after another.
He made sure not to drop them into lava.
If possible, he wanted to harvest every last fragment.
Eventually, the Heatstorm ended.
The Molten Dragon narrowed its eyes.
Of course it was confused.
That attack had definitely affected Su-ho earlier.
But now... he looked completely unfazed. Like it was a breeze on a spring day.
Then, their eyes met.
The Molten Dragon roared in fury.
[The Molten Dragon is enraged.]
[The Molten Dragon uses Breath.]
The Breath was its strongest move. Using it now made sense.
Nothing expressed the dragon’s rage better.
Su-ho stood his ground, locking eyes with it.
Go ahead. Do your worst.
With 96% fire resistance, the Breath—composed of wind, fire, and mana—should be tolerable.
Sure, there might be some damage.
But curiosity outweighed caution.
The dragon's Breath erupted with ferocity.
It was strong enough to melt rails that hadn’t budged during tail slams.
The Molten Dragon poured every ounce of its rage into that stream of destruction.
It didn’t stop until it had emptied every last breath.
Smoke rose from its mouth as it exhaled the final bit.
That smug, irritating voice rang out.
The Molten Dragon couldn’t believe it.
There he stood—completely fine—right in the middle of the scorched earth.
No soot. No burns. Not even a scratch.
Only Su-ho’s spot remained unblackened.
And there he was, grinning with absolute satisfaction.
“This system really does play by its own rules, doesn’t it?”
“Who’d have thought just bumping up resistance could make a dragon’s Breath feel like a tickle?”
Sure, the Molten Dragon was far weaker than the other dragons Su-ho had encountered.
But still—a dragon was a dragon.
Right before the attack, even Su-ho had considered escaping with Shadow Step just in case.
He was glad he took the hit.
The Molten Dragon wasn’t the only one stunned.
Even Yeomma, who had been watching from a distance, was visibly shaken.
Seeing his reaction, Su-ho just chuckled and raised his sword.
“Took long enough. Let’s wrap this up.”
The panicked dragon fired another Heatstorm.
Compared to a blow dryer, it felt weaker.
In desperation, the dragon lashed out with its tail.
But Su-ho was faster.
[Javelin has activated.]
[Shadow Step has activated.]
With flawless precision, Su-ho slipped behind the dragon.
Climbing its back, he reached the reverse scale.
[Enhance has activated.]
[Your next skill has been strengthened.]
He chose Steel Cleave.
With Enhancement imbued, Su-ho slashed toward the scale.
[Steel Cleave has activated.]
[Enhancement applied.]
[Steel Cleave's power has significantly increased.]
A clean, perfect cut.
At last, the Molten Dragon’s reverse scale split cleanly in two.