Chapter 166: The Weight of Mental Power

It was impossible to advance equally in every direction.

If he tried to do so, he might very well end up gaining nothing and losing everything instead.

In countless games, classes that relied heavily on Mental Power were rarely weak.

Even setting that aside, the likelihood of Joo Joowon choosing another attribute had always been extremely low.

Most people spent their entire lives without ever truly understanding what their talents were.

The existence of the game system, however, displayed those strengths directly in front of players through cold and objective numbers.

There was no reason for him to abandon the attribute in which he clearly excelled in order to pursue another in which he possessed only average ability.

Even if that less suitable attribute eventually became the strongest option in the future, that still would not change his decision.

After all, even if something was considered the strongest build in an entire game, a player without skill, technique, or understanding would still manage to turn it into trash.

In comparison, it was far wiser to continue specializing in the area where he already possessed talent.

Perhaps if he continued doing so, he might even eventually surpass those who had started ahead of him.

Joo Joowon could also clearly sense that as he casually erased zombies one after another as though swatting flies, the final traces of that vague feeling of being watched had finally disappeared.

The sensation had been so faint and indistinct that Joo Joowon could not even determine whether it had been a mere illusion or whether some creature had truly been observing him from the shadows all along.

That could only mean one of two possibilities.

Either he had imagined the entire thing or the creature watching him had most likely been another Boss monster.

The intimidation effect granted by The First Flame Within Endless Darkness had no effect on Boss monsters.

No matter which possibility turned out to be correct, it was good news for him.

Although Joo Joowon was not completely without the ability to fight back now, he would much rather face the siege of several Elite Monsters than a fully matured Boss monster.

Judging from the Elite Monsters he had encountered yesterday, those creatures possessed at most one or two skills, and their levels were not absurdly high either.

They were perfect targets for harvesting experience.

Of course, if possible, he would rather encounter none of them at all.

Ordinary zombies were already more than enough for his current needs.

With the degree of control he now possessed over the Spider Web Launcher, even if an entire group of low level zombies surrounded him at once, he was confident that he could sweep through them effortlessly.

The difference was so enormous that Joo Joowon almost felt as though he had finally obtained a class of his own.

He could not help wondering why the difference had become so drastic.

After thinking about the fact that he had increased his Mental Power by five whole points at once, he felt that perhaps such a change was only natural.

However, the more carefully he considered it, the more he realized that the reason was not simply those five additional points of Mental Power or rather, that was only part of the reason.

What truly mattered was his familiarity with Mental Power and the degree to which he had mastered it.

The feeling was difficult to describe.

If he had to compare it to something, it was like finally turning an external object into a true part of himself.

Data based systems always imposed limits.

No matter how skilled a player became, there would always be an upper limit and a lower limit defined by the numbers.

But if those restrictions were removed and there were no status windows at all, then the heights a person could reach would depend entirely on their own understanding and mastery.

After all, everyone’s ability to learn was different.

Did that mean he had improved himself by bypassing the game’s intended path?

That illusion had brought him suffering, but it had also tempered his willpower.

It was like iron filled with impurities being forged into steel.

The benefits had been immense.

Even so, Joo Joowon had no desire to experience something like that a second time.

It was not because he was afraid.

He simply did not believe he would successfully break free from it every single time.

The sensation of having his soul forcibly slammed out of his body by something like a speeding truck had been genuinely unpleasant.

On top of that, having someone constantly preaching into his ears had been enough to make anyone irritable.

Joo Joowon could not help wondering whether, after establishing his territory in the future, there might be safer buildings specifically designed for training Mental Power.

He felt that both he and Byeol would have a great need for something like that.

He walked back toward the marketplace with relative ease.

Perhaps it was because traces of the Big Belly Zombie’s aura still lingered on him, or perhaps because his suddenly increased Mental Power had not yet been completely tamed and restrained, but there were times when he noticed zombies deliberately walking around him rather than approaching.

Of course, there were still some that rushed toward fresh flesh without a second thought.

After observing them for a while, Joo Joowon roughly estimated the pattern.

Level 1 Zombie charged recklessly without hesitation.

Level 2 Zombie showed signs of hesitation.

Level 3 Zombie instinctively shrank back in fear.

By the time they reached Level 4, it could not quite be called fleeing at the mere sight of him, but they certainly behaved with obvious caution and submission.

Was the intimidation left behind by a Lord Rank Boss really this powerful?

Or was there some other reason behind this phenomenon?

Joo Joowon glanced at his status panel.

There were no new status effects displayed.

Nor had any strange conditions appeared.

Considering how desperately zombies craved flesh, they should not have been this smart.