Chapter 4: Blood-Frenzy Rampage (1)
<Bloodstained Claw>
Grade: Rare
Type: Dagger
[Attack Power: 30]
▶ Bleed effect is amplified by 10%.
▶ Item is destroyed under certain conditions.
The Bloodstained Claw was quite useful.
It was a simple dagger, easy to wield, with an added 10% boost to bleed effects.
For a rare-grade item, it was excellent.
“Stronger than the sword I’ve been using. And more importantly… it has a hidden effect.”
Judging by the goblin chieftain’s attitude, he wasn’t going to spill any info easily—just as expected.
“Good. Nine more to go.”
With blazing flames behind him, Lee Jin-hyuk stepped forward.
“No need to worry about relic info either.”
Smirk.
“Zinkwak. He should be here by now.”
[You have defeated <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You gain 100 points!]
[Level up!]
Five days had passed.
Because the goblin chieftains were more scattered than expected, it took time to hunt them down one by one.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is amazed by your martial prowess.]
Even a Constellation like Eternal Flame rarely praised a player’s strength.
After all, it had witnessed countless players.
But Lee Jin-hyuk was different—his behavior bordered on insanity.
No other player in the tower had ever acted like this.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is curious about your past.]
“Perhaps I’ll tell you one day, if the opportunity arises.”
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> nods.]
With Eternal Flame as the sole Constellation watching him in the tutorial zone, Jin-hyuk continued hunting goblin chieftains.
[You have defeated <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You gain 100 points!]
[Level up!]
The hunt was getting easier.
With every kill, his level and stats increased.
Not by just one point either.
Thanks to his <Indomitability> effect, stats rose by two points each level.
Effectively, he was gaining twice the benefits of a normal level-up.
[You have defeated <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You gain 100 points!]
By the fourth kill, he didn’t even need to assassinate them stealthily anymore.
After downing one more, he arrived at the village of his sixth target.
“I surrender! Total surrender! Please, spare my life!”
The goblin chieftain of that village waved a white flag frantically.
“I—Zinkwak—surrender unconditionally!”
Jin-hyuk chuckled.
“Found him.”
Smirk.
“Zinkwak.”
Though a future event, Zinkwak would one day become the Goblin Lord who ruled all goblins.
He wasn’t especially strong, and his body was even weaker than most.
So how did he come to rule them all?
Intelligence.
That’s right.
Whether a mutation or not, Zinkwak was among the top three most intelligent beings Jin-hyuk had encountered.
“Did you know, Jin-hyuk?”
“I can talk to monsters and animals, right? I found something funny.”
“That Goblin Lord we fought—Zinkwak? Turns out, he was originally one of the goblin chieftains from the tutorial.”
Jin-hyuk knew several of Zinkwak’s traits.
He’d spent days fighting him with Russell in the past.
“Zinkwak’s principle is simple.”
Slide.
“He always acts in the direction that benefits him the most.”
Because of that, Jin-hyuk could use him.
“Surrender, huh?”
Zinkwak was clever enough to set a trap, but Jin-hyuk walked into the village casually.
The only traps Zinkwak could set at this stage were curses or status effects—none of which worked on Jin-hyuk.
“And if I walk in confidently like this…”
Smirk.
“He’ll be even more intimidated. He’ll think I’m this confident because I’m overwhelmingly strong.”
Sure enough, Zinkwak flattened himself to the ground the moment Jin-hyuk arrived.
“Yes! I surrender! Spare me, please!”
“Please let me live!”
Rather than resist, Zinkwak chose submission to survive.
A clear grasp of the situation.
“Why should I spare only you? It’s a hassle finding the other chieftains.”
“I’ll tell you where they are!”
“……”
Now that was a bargain.
Hunting down the scattered chieftains took time and stamina—this could save both.
“That’s not all! I also know the location of <Crimson Hair>’s Relic!”
He even volunteered the relic’s location unprompted.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is speechless at Zinkwak’s attitude.]
Of course the Constellation wasn’t impressed.
“You seem to know a lot about me.”
“Naturally.”
Unlike the other dumb chieftains who built villages and hunted humans mindlessly, Zinkwak was different.
He had planted goblin spies in other villages and gathered information.
As a result, he knew exactly what was going on around him.
“Because I only hunted chieftains, your spies survived and analyzed me?”
“Exactly!”
Zinkwak didn’t just know Jin-hyuk was strong—he knew curses and flames didn’t work on him.
He also knew no goblin, including himself, could defeat Jin-hyuk.
And he knew Jin-hyuk was searching for relics.
So he made a decision.
To sell the relic to save his life.
“You sure you can get the relic?”
“Absolutely.”
Zinkwak grinned.
“Once you take out the other chieftains, I’ll have it ready for you. Heh heh.”
He eagerly pulled out a map.
“This guy…”
Jin-hyuk smiled at the locations marked on the map.
“You really are cunning.”
“Hehehe…”
Judging from the geography, it was clear.
Zinkwak planned to absorb the goblin factions that had lost their chieftains.
Even when his life was in danger, he pinpointed exactly what Jin-hyuk wanted and offered it in trade.
“No wonder he became Goblin Lord. Sharp little bastard.”
From Jin-hyuk’s perspective, it was a good deal.
He got the locations and a Constellation’s relic.
“Alright. Let’s start with this one.”
[You have defeated <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You gain 100 points!]
“Done.”
The ninth goblin chieftain had fallen.
KEEEEK!
KYAARRGH!
As always, other goblins surrounded their fallen leader’s body.
“Your chieftain is dead! Follow me now!”
Keek…
Kyarrrgh…!
Only goblins with special strength could become chieftains.
Without one, the remaining goblins immediately submitted to Zinkwak.
“Congratulations.”
Zinkwak bowed to Jin-hyuk.
“You made this easy.”
He wasn’t being polite—he meant it.
Zinkwak had led his goblin group to pressure other villages, letting Jin-hyuk face each chieftain one-on-one.
If he was going to betray someone, he betrayed hard—to gain both maximum benefit and trust.
That was Zinkwak’s strategy.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is speechless at your tactics.]
“Guess this is new to even Constellations.”
Most players in the tutorial never even see a goblin chieftain.
But Jin-hyuk? He’d teamed up with one to kill the others.
Not even long-lived Constellations had seen such madness.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is extremely curious about you.]
It had certainly piqued its interest.
“That makes nine. One left.”
Zinkwak clapped, and his goblins brought forth a heavy chest.
Inside was a large axe with a crimson blade—like blood.
“As promised, the relic.”
Because Jin-hyuk had wiped out the guarding factions, Zinkwak had reclaimed the relic with ease.
“Alright.”
Jin-hyuk touched the axe. A hologram window appeared.
[You have acquired the Relic <Blood-Drenched Axe of Light>.]
<Blood-Drenched Axe of Light>
Grade: Relic
Type: Axe
[Attack Power: ???]
[HP + ???]
Only usable by a follower of Constellation <Crimson Hair>.
▶ Only usable by a follower of Constellation <Crimson Hair>.
▶ Only usable by a follower of Constellation <Crimson Hair>.
▶ Only usable by an Apostle of <Crimson Hair>.
Unlike standard grades—Common, Rare, Epic, etc.—this had the mark Relic.
And its abilities were locked behind Constellation status.
No doubt it was a genuine relic.
“I knew this one.”
Jin-hyuk asked,
“You’re giving me this relic knowing I could use it to kill you?”
“If I hadn’t convinced you when we first met, you would’ve killed me anyway.”
Slide.
“I never had a choice. Even if I die now, at least I did everything I could.”
“……”
Zinkwak’s strategy was clear:
Maximize the odds of survival.
“Well done.”
Jin-hyuk looked at him briefly before walking away.
A promise was a promise.
No need to kill someone who helped.
“Take care! Let’s meet again someday!”
Zinkwak had gained a lot from this cooperation.
He would amass power much faster than in the original timeline.
“Zinkwak has potential.”
Smirk.
“Useful enough to exploit again later.”
Even without Jin-hyuk, Zinkwak had the ability to rule goblins.
Keeping him alive could prove crucial—especially in the future battle against <Pure Radiance>.
“He’s still just a chieftain for now. Not a big threat.”
Far from the eyes of Zinkwak and his goblins…
Jin-hyuk grasped the Blood-Drenched Axe of Light tightly.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is curious about your next move.]
“Time to test the Constellation’s power.”
Slide.
“They’ll never see this coming.”
Constellations watching or not—it didn’t matter.
Word would eventually spread that Jin-hyuk could use Constellation powers.
“Even <Pure Radiance>, who invented the idea of copying their powers into bodies, never imagined this.”
“That development doesn’t even happen until years later.”
Muttering, Jin-hyuk activated his skill.
[Skill <Stellar Archive> activated.]
[Required points: 0.]
[0 points consumed.]
[Item <Blood-Drenched Axe of Light> has been destroyed.]
ZZZTTTTTT—!
Starlight swirled from his hand and resonated with the relic.
After a moment of vibration, the relic vanished like smoke.
[Skill <Blood-Frenzy Rampage> acquired.]
[Skill <Stellar Archive> upgraded to Rare grade.]
{Skill}
<Blood-Frenzy Rampage>
Grade: Unique (Constellation)
▶ For 10 minutes, all your stats are multiplied by 5x.
▶ For the same duration, one chosen stat is multiplied by 10x.
Cooldown: 12 hours
Causes <Berserk> status while active.
Causes <Exhaustion> status for 72 hours after use.
In the tower, skills are graded from Common to Mythic.
But a Constellation’s Unique Power exists outside that system.
According to the system, this was a Unique Grade skill.
“Depending on the Constellation, it could be worse than Common or better than Mythic.”
And make no mistake—Blood-Frenzy Rampage was insanely valuable.
“Yeah. Even if you searched the entire tower…”
Slide.
“You wouldn’t find another skill that multiplies stats tenfold.”
