# Player with Maxed-Out Talent, Episode 9

Kang Sunhwa’s entire body trembled uncontrollably.

‘I-It pierced through the ATM machine.’

The spearhead jutted out through the ATM, and had she been hit directly…

‘I-I would have been skewered.’

She might have really died.

‘How are we supposed to defeat a monster like that?’

She was terrified. She wanted to run away that very moment and cry, but she held back her tears.

‘I have to be helpful.’

Otherwise, she might be abandoned, and she didn’t want that.

[I’ll be back after only 100 nights. Promise. Be a good girl, my daughter?]

Her mother had said that before abandoning her. 100 days passed, then 200, then 300, but her mother never returned. As she grew past the age of 10, she realized that she had been abandoned. Abandoned by her mother, raised in an orphanage. She hated and feared the feeling of being abandoned more than any goblin soldier.

Kang Sunhwa remembered everything Kim Hyukjin had said, clenching her fist tightly.

‘I can do this!’

Sunhwa escaped from beside the ATM machine.

‘It’s just as big brother said.’

As Kim Hyukjin had told her, monsters were regenerating around them.

“Provoke!”

[Skill: Provoke has been used.]

Sunhwa used her skill, ‘Provoke’. Following the appearance of a sub-boss monster, ‘!!!’ symbols appeared above the regenerated urban foxes and goblins’ heads—it was a sign that aggro was successfully drawn.

‘I have to do well.’

Off in the distance, she could see a goblin that stood over 180 cm tall—much larger and more muscular than the average goblin.

‘Big brother is taking on that kind of monster.’

The monsters swarmed in. She was not afraid. From experience, she knew biting, attacking, and beating—none of it hurt her.

She relaxed her fist as much as possible and started hitting goblins and urban foxes.

‘That’s enough for now.’

The monsters’ H/P was down to about 10 percent. With the situation like that, she occasionally used ‘Provoke’, keeping the ‘!!!’ status as she waited. Surrounded by monsters, Kang Sunhwa looked toward Kim Hyukjin, who was panting heavily, looking as though he could collapse at any moment.

‘Please…!’

She prayed with her hands together, hoping they could make it out alive.

* * *

Kim Hyukjin took labored breaths.

‘The pressure is immense.’

Bigger than the average adult male, with muscles almost like the Hulk—if one were to exaggerate. However, this was incomparable to what was on the second floor, but it still looked daunting. He thought he’d become accustomed to the idea of ‘monsters’, but clearly, he was mistaken. It’s unbelievable that this level 13 monster could exert such an aura. The weight of high-level monsters’ presence was unimaginable.

‘I must be wary of that spear attack.’

Although the monster wasn’t high-level, this goblin soldier was different due to the sub-boss monster buff. Nonetheless, its attack pattern was very simple: stabbing and a downward swing. Only those two.

The ‘Goblin Soldier’ rapidly approached Kim Hyukjin.

‘Here it comes!’

Kim Hyukjin tightened his grip on the rusted iron sword.

‘Is it stabbing or swinging?’

He focused all his attention.

‘Swinging.’

He saw it. The trajectory—from above to below. The sweeping motion of the spear was clear. Kim Hyukjin stepped aside while driving towards the goblin, brandishing his rusted iron sword.

‘Slash!’

He slashed at the side of the goblin soldier, but the attack power was too low to hit effectively. The goblin soldier seemed enraged.

Kiik! Kiigik!

Emitting a much louder noise than the normal goblins, it lunged its spear toward Kim Hyukjin. It was a fast attack from Kim Hyukjin’s perspective—swift, but he had anticipated it.

‘This attack. I expected it!’

With a swift motion, Kim Hyukjin parried the goblin soldier’s thrust.

The semi-transparent Senia focused on this scene. She was aware of the guardians murmuring.

[Unnamed Guardians have entered Channel #19207 in droves.]

For the first moment, Senia almost smiled. Though they did not reveal their ‘True Names’, guardians entered her boring channel. But she did not smile. Since childhood, she had learned that showing emotion was vulgar. Although she became a middle manager, she had resolved not to become vulgar in her line of work.

The unnamed guardians began asking incessantly.

[Is he really level 8?]

[Is a level 8 player truly taking on a sub-boss in a tutorial dungeon?]

Senia nodded, affirming. Yes. This level 8 player was avoiding a certain-death first strike behind cover and fighting against the goblin soldier. Unbelievable, but true. She had never seen such a player in any dimension. At least not in a tutorial.

‘I’m curious about this player’s stats.’

She wondered what kind of stats he possessed to enable such movements. The unnamed guardians, namely the ‘riffraff’, chattered trivially.

[That movement doesn’t look like it’s from a level 8.]

[How can a level 8 move like that?]

[Is he lying about his level?]

The riffraff chattered away, while the named guardians watched the situation closely, observing the extraordinary play of the level 8 player. Senia was no different. At this point, another player caught Senia’s attention with an almost negligible presence. Her name was Kang Sunhwa, an Awakener in the tank class, who stood quietly surrounded by monsters.

Then, Kim Hyukjin shouted, evidently exhausted as if he could faint at any moment.

“Now! Catch it!”

At that moment, Senia realized what Kim Hyukjin intended. Kang Sunhwa had hunted an urban fox.

[You have gained experience points.]

[7 coins have been acquired.]

Kang Sunhwa’s party member, Kim Hyukjin, leveled up.

[Level has increased.]

[Current level: 9]

With the level up, his health was replenished. Kim Hyukjin felt refreshed. Just moments ago, he felt breathless as if he was about to collapse, but now he felt better. He had timed this experience gain and level-up on purpose—to be able to level up when needed.

“Maintain your distance with the monsters. Keep hunting as many as you can since monsters keep regenerating. I’ll signal when to stop.”

After saying that, Kim Hyukjin re-engaged the goblin soldier. Now level 9, he grew slightly stronger and more accustomed to the goblin soldier. The battle went on for over 30 minutes. Kim Hyukjin tenaciously clung to the goblin soldier, evading fatal blows while allowing itself occasional attacks, constantly aiming for the nape, a known common weakness among goblins.

[The durability of the Rusty Iron Sword is decreasing.]

Meanwhile, Kang Sunhwa continued to hunt monsters.

[You have hunted a goblin.]

[You have hunted an urban fox.]

[You have hunted a goblin.]

[You have hunted an urban fox.]

As they were partied up, Kim Hyukjin’s experience points also steadily increased. He managed his health while keeping an eye on the experience bar.

‘Soon… another level up.’

Kiik! Kiigikigik!

The goblin soldier, enraged by the presence of its opponent, swung its spear down once again.

Kim Hyukjin made a split-second decision.

‘I’m going to take this hit.’

He decided to expose his left shoulder. By taking the hit on his shoulder, he aimed to go for the neck, creating an opening to delve deeper.

‘Ugh!’

The blunt end of the spear crashed into his shoulder, bringing excruciating pain that felt like it could shatter his shoulder—yet he endured.

‘Now, drive in.’

He timed it precisely. For that moment, he forgot he was determined to have [No Talent]. He felt acutely vivid, that everything was clear. He focused only on this situation.

Right at this timing. Kim Hyukjin charged at the goblin soldier. At the exact moment Sunhwa took down another fox.

[Level has increased.]

[Current level: 10]

The pain subsided. His condition returned to normal. He had waited for this moment. A surge of vitality coursed through him. He lunged the Rusty Iron Sword towards the neck of the goblin soldier and quickly repositioned himself behind it.

‘I see it!’

He saw the weak point. The nape of the neck. A dark spot. That dark spot appeared prominently before him.

“Aaaaagh!”

He thrust the rusted iron sword furiously towards that spot.

‘Did it work?’

Then, at that instant.

[The Rusty Iron Sword has been destroyed.]

Its durability expended. As the weapon shattered, the body of the goblin soldier began to tilt.

‘I did it.’

He had finally succeeded. He had hunted the sub-boss monster, the goblin soldier.

[You have hunted the sub-boss monster ‘Goblin Soldier.’]

[Congratulations.]

[This is recognized as your first ‘Sub-boss Monster’ hunt.]

A flurry of notifications ensued.

[You have gained experience points.]

[The level restriction for the tutorial field is ’10’.]

[The required number of players for a sub-boss monster raid in a tutorial dungeon is set to at least 5.]

[The system recognizes this as a solo playthrough.]

As a result,

[Leveling up is possible.]

[Current level: 10]

[You meet the qualifications for the Hidden Piece.]

I was speechless for a moment.

‘Leveling up is possible?’

The tutorial field’s level cap was 10. And now the level limit has been lifted. Plus, I met the qualifications for a ‘Hidden Piece’, though I had no idea what that meant.

But that was not all. Senia swiftly ran her hand through the body of the ‘goblin soldier’, drawing a yellow light from it that disappeared. She came close and handed me something.

“This is the reward item for hunting the mid-boss monster.”

[‘Iron Sword’ is given as a reward.]

I was provided an ‘Iron Sword’ in place of the ‘Rusted Iron Sword’. Its attack power was at least double. A voice resonated in my head.

[Intermediate Administrator Senia has requested a private conversation. Would you like to accept? Y/N]

Senia seemed quite surprised as well. To openly request a private conversation. This conversation would not be heard by the guardians or Sunhwa. A conversation just between player and middle manager.

‘Accept.’

Senia asked me expressionlessly.

[Did you precisely time your leveling up and hunt while managing your health?]

[I told you I would show you. Hunting the sub-boss monster.]

[The play you demonstrated is not fitting for your level. Do you have a True Name?]

A True Name? What’s that now? I don’t have such a thing. All I know is the future walkthrough, not any True Name. I didn’t correct the misunderstanding right away because I felt there was no need to vehemently deny it.

[Don’t forget the deal we made.]

[…]

Was it talent? Was it luck? Or was it something else? I seemed to hear Senia’s voice, but the whisper connection soon cut off.

[‘The Nameless Observer’ admires your remarkable concentration.]

‘The level 10 limit in the tutorial field has been lifted. I’ve gained new items, and even a guardian is impressed.’

Me. Was I indeed [No Talent]? I realized it while fighting the goblin soldier. I am not devoid of talent; in fact, my talent overflows. I do not know my limits, yet based on my knowledge, it’s an unprecedented talent even when considering past histories. It’s somewhat embarrassing to say it myself, but for the time being, I’m inclined to believe that my ability is close to ‘transcendent’.

‘I even received sponsorship.’

Earlier, I was too focused to notice, but I received a ‘sponsorship’. It might just be an unprecedented record in the tutorial field.

An incredibly smooth, no, an extraordinary start. That is, assuming I won’t ascend to the ‘second floor’. And yet, the notifications didn’t stop there.

[‘The Lady of the Scales’ begins to watch you with interest.]

What? I froze for a moment.