Chapter 276: Chapter 276
[Shadow Shift has been activated.]
Having finished all preparations, Su-ho immediately activated Shadow Shift.
In an instant, he arrived at the center of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where he had last embedded the Guiyeong Spear.
What greeted him wasn’t a peaceful scene—it was the grotesque groans of the Agwi creatures, jarring in contrast to the tranquil surroundings.
After observing them for a while, Su-ho summoned Bulgasari.
“Come out, Bulgasari.”
As soon as it was summoned, Bulgasari offered its back, and Su-ho climbed on to ride.
His destination was Bongdong Station, the second subway station near the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
‘There's nothing left for me here in the Kaesong Industrial Complex.’
With that in mind, Su-ho planned to go from Bongdong Station, pass through Sonha Station, and finally reach Kaesong Special City.
That talk about preparing for China that he mentioned to Jeong Cheol-min and the Association?
He could get to that later.
To stop China’s meddling, what mattered was seizing control at the Yalu River—but there was nothing he could accomplish there alone right now anyway.
‘What’s important is ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) to handle the immediate threats first.’
And so, he continued traveling.
Before long, Bongdong Station came into view.
Behind him, like kids chasing after a fumigation truck, a horde of Agwi had gathered.
“Ugh, disgusting bastards.” Thıs content belongs to 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍
Bongdong Station, unlike the others, was in complete disrepair.
Likely the result of a magic shockwave.
Which worked out in his favor.
If it had been too pristine, like a certain other station, he would've had to fight his way through—but with it this wrecked, approaching the portal was easier.
Upon spotting the gate portal at Bongdong Station, Su-ho didn’t hesitate. He threw himself straight into it.
Same name, same conditions.
This one was relatively mild.
[You are now entering the Sealed Iron Horse.]
As the system notification popped up, the scenery around him changed.
It was the same as what he had seen back at Panmun Station.
Su-ho exhaled deeply like a marathon runner prepping for a race, his eyes set on the Iron Horse in the distant background.
Then he put in the earplugs he had prepared in advance.
The screeching kikikik sound made by the Chain Soldiers last time had been unbearable—he’d promised himself he wouldn’t come again without ear protection.
He spotted the Chain Soldiers standing idly not far off.
They were just like the ones from before.
No, they were exactly the same.
Which meant the strategy would also be exactly the same.
[Blessing has been activated.]
Su-ho doubled his stats with Blessing.
Then he lifted the Guiyeong Spear.
[Javelin has been activated.]
Once again, he hurled it as far as he could.
[Shadow Shift has been activated.]
Su-ho’s body appeared at the spear’s landing spot.
Below him, the Chain Soldiers gathered.
But Su-ho didn’t bother dealing with them directly.
Instead, he hurled the spear again to push further forward.
[Javelin has been activated.]
[Shadow Shift has been activated.]
When you have a strategy and a mobility skill this good, is there any point in wasting time on low-level trash mobs?
Clearing one gate usually gives one level anyway.
And fighting monsters below your level yields barely any experience.
So, this was the optimal way to clear this gate.
Eventually, after a few more repetitions of the process—
[Shadow Shift has been activated.]
Just as his body emerged mid-air during another Shadow Shift—
A pair of chains suddenly shot toward him.
Su-ho casually deflected them.
It was about time for you to show up.
The one who owned those chains—none other than the boss monster of this area, the Obsessing Chain Warden.
[A boss monster has appeared.]
[Obsessing Chain Warden uses boss-level Fear.]
[Dragonblood has been activated.]
[Due to Dragonblood’s Dragon Spirit effect, Fear does not apply.]
The boss used Fear to mark the beginning of true combat.
Su-ho responded by drawing his weapon and activating his skills.
[Holy Enchant has been activated.]
[Magic Detection has been activated.]
[Endurance has been activated.]
[Enhancement has been activated.]
[Weaken has been activated.]
A cascade of skill activations.
But the real highlight—
[Eye of the Master Blacksmith has been activated.]
This skill now showed him the monster’s weaknesses directly.
As the skill activated, a grid pattern and highlighted weak spots appeared on the Chain Warden’s body.
Without a moment's hesitation, Su-ho charged forward.
[You have defeated the Obsessed Chain Warden.]
[Gate has been cleared.]
[Gate Clear MVP: An Su-ho.]
[Bonus EXP awarded for MVP status.]
[Bonus Stat awarded for MVP status.]
[You have leveled up.]
[All stats increased by 1.]
[You have gained 1 Bonus Stat.]
System messages poured in.
Compared to last time, the time it took to defeat the Obsessed Chain Warden was cut by half—or maybe even more than that.
Su-ho’s specs had changed drastically since then.
He opened his status window.
He invested the two Bonus Stats into Strength, then turned his eyes back to the Chain Warden.
‘Normally I’d just stick the Guiyeong Spear in it and move on to the Iron Horse...’
But the situation had changed.
With the Eye of the Master Blacksmith, he began inspecting the Chain Warden’s corpse.
A grid of dotted lines appeared, marking areas for material harvesting.
Only one harvesting point.
Thinking it might be a glitch, he turned the skill off and on again—but it showed the same.
‘The Molten Dragon must’ve had a freakishly high yield.’
Su-ho immediately got to work with his hammer.
[Precise Harvest has been activated.]
Clang clang clang! Clang!
[You have acquired: Fragment of the Chain Warden’s Obsession (A)]
The result was a cube of pitch-black material.
Su-ho checked its info.
[Fragment of the Chain Warden’s Obsession]
A crystal formed from the Chain Warden’s obsession.
The Warden had carried out the command to bind targets for so long that it evolved beyond duty into terrifying obsession.
When equipped, there is a low chance to trigger a bind effect upon dealing damage.
Su-ho’s eyes widened at the item description.
‘A bind effect on hit?’
Bind was a status effect that completely immobilized the target.
Similar to paralysis, but with one critical difference—paralysis affected muscles, while bind operated through system-level force.
‘Which means armor-type enemies like Chain Soldiers aren’t affected by paralysis... but can be bound.’
So in terms of grade, Bind > Paralysis.
Bind works based on system parameters, not physical ones.
Which is why he was so surprised.
The effect alone was incredible—but he had never seen an item that granted a status effect .
Su-ho stared at the Master Blacksmith’s Hammer and the fragment with disbelief.
No matter how he looked at it, this blacksmith-class gear had better utility and scalability than any class he’d seen.
‘No—unmatched and unparalleled is more accurate.’
After some thought, Su-ho removed the Rebar Fragment from the Crying Furnace he had socketed in Slot 1, and instead slotted in the Fragment of the Chain Warden’s Obsession.
[Slot 1 now contains: Fragment of the Chain Warden’s Obsession.]
[On hit, there is a low chance to trigger Bind.]
All he had done was change a socket fragment—but now all of Su-ho’s attacks had a chance to inflict a debilitating debuff.
It sent a thrill down his spine.
This was an incredible effect.
And it sparked new hope.
If he could refine the effect using the hammer’s secondary skill—Precision Impact—perhaps he could turn that “low chance” into a “very high chance.”
‘And there are still plenty of North Korean subway stations I need to clear.’
Su-ho smirked and embedded the Guiyeong Spear into the Chain Warden’s body.
Then he walked up to the true highlight of the gate—the Iron Horse—and began slicing through the chains wrapped around it.
[Steel Sever has been activated.]
[You have lifted the Iron Horse’s Seal.]
With the last chain cut, the familiar system message appeared.
Light returned to the Iron Horse’s once lifeless eyes—just as the Guiyeong Spear finished devouring the Chain Warden’s shadow.
[Guiyeong Spear has fully absorbed the Chain Warden’s shadow.]
[Guiyeong Spear has been enhanced.]
Once the spear was done feeding, Su-ho picked up a familiar B-grade chain fragment from where the Chain Warden had been.
Only then did he exit the portal.
‘Next is Sonha Station.’
As he stepped out, he muttered while glancing at the faint outline of Sonha Station in the distance.
Honestly, Sonha wasn’t that important.
It would just be another Chain Warden and Iron Horse.
The real prize came after Sonha.
‘Once Sonha is cleared... it’s finally Kaesong.’
Kaesong was split into two parts: the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Kaesong Special City. Since the industrial complex was closer, he’d started there.
Now that it was cleared, it was time to move on to the real highlight—Kaesong Special City.
‘I need to move quickly.’
Su-ho summoned Bulgasari again and headed toward Sonha Station.
“Let’s go, Bulgasari.”
[You have defeated the Obsessed Chain Warden.]
[Gate has been cleared.]
[Gate Clear MVP: An Su-ho.]
[Bonus EXP awarded for MVP status.]
[Bonus Stat awarded for MVP status.]
[You have leveled up.]
[All stats increased by 1.]
[You have gained 1 Bonus Stat.]
He had cleared the Sonha Station gate.
Subway gates tended to follow the same pattern.
So the loot was similar too.
What he welcomed most was, once again, the Fragment of Obsession.
Before unsealing the Iron Horse, Su-ho picked up the Master Blacksmith’s Hammer first.
He removed the previously socketed fragment, stacked it with the newly acquired one, and began to forge.