“OooooOoooo!”

“Kyaaa!”

Menacing ghosts turned their attention toward us. I quickly scanned the room to find the Wraith Queen. Just like I had expected, she was looking down at us from a throne in the innermost area of the room. She appeared to be nine feet tall and took the form of a ghostly woman.

“Humans dare to enter my territory? I shall extract your souls and make you suffer for all eternity!”

“We’ll take care of the wraiths first!”

The attack strategy we used was not too different from the strategy for the Orc Lord. As soon as we entered, I used Tempest to pave open a path between all the wraiths flying towards us.

“Kuaaaaak!”

“Alright, let’s go!”

“…Eh?”

“…Yes?”

Since I had just spent 300 mana to kill about 30 wraiths, I felt it was justified for us to charge forward. However, my party members seemed to disagree. I remembered that the party leader had said that the Wraith Queen had a skill that summoned wraiths when their numbers got low and that we had to take care of them quickly. What was wrong?

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“What level are you?”

“10. Aren’t we all?”

“Are you really level 10?”

“Yes, I really am.”

It felt a bit weird hearing them repeatedly say ten[1]. When I replied in a displeased tone, the party leader retorted as if he had just heard the most ridiculous thing.

“What skill allows a level 10 to kill 30 wraiths of the same level?”

“The high-rank spear technique.”

To be exact, it was the level 2 high-rank spear technique. High-rank weapon techniques really were hard to level up.

“H-High rank…”

“This is the power of the Crown Prince…”

“Crown Prince…”

I felt like dying from embarrassment. Meanwhile, the Wraith Queen was moving in a way that showed that she was going to summon more monsters

“More wraiths are coming out! I have limited mana, so I can only use that skill two more times!”

“Ah, everyone, charge! Priestesses, prepare your status effect cleansing spells!”

“Yes!”

With the party leader taking the lead, everyone rushed forward. Although I also ran while taking care of the incoming wraiths, the Wraith Queen re-summoned ten wraiths in one go. The summoned wraiths flew toward us the moment they appeared, and the Wraith Queen went back to summoning more.

“She’s one annoying ghost for sure. When the number of wraiths falls below twenty, she starts summoning more!”

“I’ll take care of the wraiths so you can focus on dealing damage!”

“Got it! Everyone, use auras!”

A bluish aura wrapped around the party leader’s sword. As I struck down the wraiths, the party leader and five other people all used their swords, blades, and spears to attack the Wraith Queen. Even as she screamed out in pain, the Wraith Queen didn’t stop summoning wraiths.

“Haaap!”

I let out a spirited shout and activated Tempest to sweep the wraiths around me once more. Mana surged from my body as it traveled from the heart, ran down the arm, and wrapped around my spear. It formed a spiral current as I thrusted it forward!

BOOM!

“Kiyaaaaa!”

“Syaaaa!”

A majority of the leftover wraiths were swept away by the Tempest. The Wraith Queen stopped her summoning and let out a scream full of rage.

“KIYAAAAA!”

[Wraith Queen has used Vengeful Spirit’s Wail! All party members are now under a state of confusion! All party members have fallen under a state of fear!]

[You attempt to resist. With 22 charm and 11 luck, your resistance chance is 28 percent… Resistance has failed! You have fallen under confusion and fear!]

What? What just happened? Suddenly, I couldn’t balance myself properly. My head was spinning and I wanted to fall down. I didn’t understand why I was here. All I wanted to do was just lie down and rest.

When I raised my head, I was surrounded by several Palludias. Agh! No way, Palludia!

“You Orc!”

“Bastard Orc!”

“You dare ignore me?”

“You’re just an Orc!”

“I’ll kill you!”

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to ignore you!” I sputtered.

“Like I care!”

“Die!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”

All the Palludias suddenly jumped at me. I’ll die, I’ll die right here! At that moment I could vaguely hear an outside voice…

“Save those who fell under darkness! Purify!”

[You have been cleansed of status effects.]

“Agh, Palludia, I’m sor…Eh?”

When I snapped out of it, all the Palludias surrounding me vanished and turned into wraiths instead. No, they couldn’t have been Palludia in the first place. They had been wraiths all along. Did I mistake them for Palludia in my confused state? Why was I so afraid of her in the first place!?

“Leader!”

One of the priestesses suddenly shouted. After turning quickly to look, I saw the Wraith Queen shooting out ectoplasm arrows continuously at the party leader. Unfortunately, it looked like he either didn’t have a Spiritual Shield equipped or the one he had had run out. In the blink of an eye, he turned deathly pale and fell down.

“Damn, the leader died!”

“The Wraith Queen is summoning again!”

“Argh, at this rate…”

Before I knew it, the raid was about to end as a failure. However, didn’t I have an item for this exact situation? I hastily took out a Soul Bomb from my inventory and threw it at the Wraith Queen. The moment the bomb made contact and exploded, a boom sounded out and the Wraith Queen staggered.

Kwang!

[Spiritual Burst has activated! Wraith Queen has received 1,496 damage.]

[Wraith has received 700 damage.]

[Wraith has received 4,700 damage.]

Damn it, it could deal up to 5,000 damage and it only did 1,500!? Although I was disappointed by the Soul Bomb’s power, it managed to stop her. The two wraiths standing near her had also died in the blast. Now was the time to turn the tide! I decided to use the skill I kept hidden.

“EVERYONE, CHAAAARGE!” I hollered.

[You have used Orc Lord’s Warcry! All party members are cleansed of negative status effects. All party members’ attack power has increased by 50 percent for the duration. All party members are now super-armored, unfazed by enemy attacks.]

“W-What’s this?”

“Isn’t this the Orc Lord’s skill? Who used it?”

“No way, it’s the Crown Prince!”

“Stop babbling and attack!”

The super-armor effect surrounded my body and made it glow. With the buff activated, I rushed towards the Wraith Queen. When I thrust my spear in, I could feel a definite response. The 50 percent attack power increase truly did its work!

“Kiyaaaak!”

“Die!”

I’m going to have to work on my habit of shouting out in fights. Even as I silently scolded myself, I continued to act wild like a boar that had just been hit. The party members seemed to understand that questions were for later as they followed my lead and attacked the Wraith Queen.

This was significant as the Wraith Queen was suffering attacks from the entire party! Not to mention, they were strengthened by 50 percent after my buff! The Wraith Queen could not finish her summoning gesture and stumbled down. Usually, when a beautiful woman fell, it would be a man’s instinct to help her rise. Unfortunately, none of the men here had the desire to escort the Wraith Queen.

“Kiyaaaaak!”

[Wraith Queen uses Vengeful Spirit’s Wail. Super-armor state ignores status effect.]

Wow! I didn’t know super-armor had such an effect.

To be honest, I didn’t fully understand all of the benefits of super-armor because it was quite rare. However, I did know that this was the best opportunity to finish off the Wraith Queen.

I checked the amount of mana I had left.

Still about 300. What should I do? Save it? No, if I save it and Orc Lord’s Warcry ends, it would be terrible. I had no doubt that I’d be able to prevail even if that happened, but I didn’t want any unnecessary casualties among the other party members and make them suffer week-long vacations.

“Ugh, we’re being pushed back!”

“This Wraith Queen! Even her physical attacks are strong!”

“Sinoa’s about to die! Heal her!”

“Kiyaaaa! Let the vengeful spirits burn you alive, humans!!”

In the end, I came to a decision. With a single swing, I brushed aside the wraiths that were nearing me before I pulled my spear back slightly. The spear technique I was about to use had not come from Peruta. Instead, it was a Kang Family spear technique that I had learned from my father.

It focused the entire body’s power into the spear tip before using it to penetrate the enemy. By pouring all of the user’s concentration into the spear tip, it created a single blow that surpassed the limit of humans.

Along with that, I wrapped the spiral current of mana used in Tempest. The spear tip began to tremble, and I held it back with my willpower alone. As this was a move that poured everything in a single attack, I could not have a shred of hesitation when using it.

“Eh, Crown Prince is doing something.”

“Someone hold down the Wraith Queen! She’s trying to run away!”

“Crown Prince, hurry!”

I did not even have the energy to reply. Damn, controlling mana and controlling the entire body’s strength…doing these two things at the same time is giving me a splitting headache. Is it really impossible to do both of these at once? …No, wait. Isn’t mana part of my strength? Why am I trying to stick to the shape of Tempest? This is an attack focusing on a single point, so why can’t I just focus my mana with it?

When I realized the key point, the current of mana wrapping around the spear disappeared. Instead, my mana began to flow from my body to the spear tip. The stream of pure white light flowing and gathering at the spear tip made it look like I was gathering energy for an energy blast.

But I had to end it quickly as I could feel my mana draining away. The only thing I needed to do now was to draw my breath and thrust out. In this tranquil state, I stared fixedly at the Wraith Queen’s chest, the target of my attack.

“N-No way…That light is…”

“Hero? I see, Crown Prince is his world’s Hero. I thought he was overly strong…”

None of the chatter from the party members entered my consciousness. The only important thing for me right now was this attack. I devoted my entire focus to this attack.

The attack timing came as a surprise. I struck the moment right before the Wraith Queen tried to use another Vengeful Spirit Wail and right before Orc Lord’s Warcry ended.

I thrust out with my spear.

Puuuk.

To my utter surprise, a soft sensation like sticking a fork through cake flowed through me. I smiled. I knew at this moment that the attack was a success. There was no chance that it failed.

“KIYAAAAAA!”

The Wraith Queen let out a bloodcurdling scream, slowly turning transparent. At the same time, a large window had appeared in front of the eight remaining members. Apparently, someone else must have died without me noticing earlier.

[You are now level 11. You have obtained the qualification to enter the 11th floor.]

[You have obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[You have obtained 3,000 gold. It is distributed evenly amongst party members. You have received 375 gold.]

[Rewards will be distributed in order of contribution.]

[Kang Shin-nim’s contribution is the highest. Choose your reward.]

“Kyaa, we did it!”

“We won, we won!”

“All hail Crown Prince!”

“Crown Prince is the best!”

After standing blankly for a while, everyone threw themselves on me. Since most of the remaining members were women, I felt a bit dizzy and confused from their sweet scents and soft bodies. 

“Everyone, let go of Crown Prince. He has to choose a reward before we do.”

“Ah, right. Sorry, Crown Prince.”

“Sorry, Crown Prince, but you looked so cool back there!”

“That aside, why do you all keep calling me Crown Prince…?” I grumbled.

As I expressed my discontent with this nickname that had somehow stuck onto me, I checked the reward list.

[1. Wraith Queen’s Headdress

2. Middle Potion

3. Mana Potion

4. Soul Tempering Elixir

5. Rescue Nut

6. Animate Dead Magic Book

7. Wraith Queen’s Ghost Shoes

8. Emergency Medical Kit]

…Ha, haha, hahaha.

“Ohhh, Crown Prince is laughing.”

“Hm? What could have come out?”

“Ah, I’m 3rd in contributions. I hope there are at least 3 Wraith Queen drops…!"

Hee hee, don’t worry, you’ll obtain what you want. Of course, I will too! Would I choose anything else at this point? Without a shred of hesitation, I chose number 4, the Soul Tempering Elixir.

[Soul Tempering Elixir (Rare)

All souls become dirty and mixed with impurities as they live their lives. When the body experiences sudden growth, the soul often is unable to adapt to the new change and will even degrade. The Soul Tempering Elixir purifies the soul and strengthens it to fit the body. A tempered soul not only affects the body positively, but it also positively affects one’s mana.

Note, when someone whose soul has already been tempered to the max or when someone who has both a weak soul and body consumes this elixir, it may cause permanent damage or even kill in the worst case scenario.]

It was just as I expected! When I swallowed the Soul Tempering Pill without hesitation, it felt like hot water was being poured inside me. However, I endured it with my willpower. When the feeling was gone, a message I had been expecting appeared.

[You have tempered your soul. As a result, your magic and charm has increased by 1.]

Eh, why did my charm go up? Although this was something unexpected, I decided not to question it since it was a good thing.

“Wow! There are two Wraith Queen items left!”

“This raid was amazing on so many levels!”

“Whoa, a magic book!”

“Crown Prince! Crown Prince!”

Can you guys stop chanting Crown Prince!? Please, I beg you!

1. 'Ten' in Korean sounds similar to the F-word equivalent, although not exactly ☜