Just like Eltor had told him, there were no monster waves. Whenever Junhyuk had time to spare, he watched Gongon. The rest of the time, he researched more about his Spatial Slash.

As he looked deeper into it, his powers improved. The Spatial Slash’s range was now 120 meters, and his teleportation’s distance had increased to 700 meters. It was truly a success.

Junhyuk was satisfied. He had learned many things from Artlan and, now, he wanted to purchase the training facility to ask Artlan for a duel.

Artlan would be there in person, but there would be no way he would be able to kill him with a single hit. In any event, Artlan was a legend candidate.

The hero was turning into more of a tank, so he wouldn’t die easily.

There were no monster waves, but he was feeling uneasy. Eltor had said that there would be no monster waves until he was summoned again, but why wasn’t Eltor sending more monsters? He had to have reasons of his own.

Junhyuk didn’t trust the manager at all. He wanted Eltor punished by the other managers and he didn’t want to see him for a long while.

Gongon was almost finished with the item. Junhyuk could make out what it was now. It looked like a small pistol.

“It’s finished,” Gongon said with a smile.

“What is it?”

“It’s a device that uses the energy from the core to release a projectile. Do you want to see it?”

Junhyuk nodded, and the area around Gongon changed. Gongon was now atop a mountain, and he was aiming his pistol at the top of a mountain nearby.

“Watch closely.”

While making some funny noises, the small pistol changed shape and wrapped around Gongon. It released a beam, and the peak of the mountain was destroyed, completely gone.

“What the?!”

The single shot had destroyed the peak of the mountain. It was very hard to believe in that level of destruction.

It was like seeing a core bomb at work, but the core bomb could only be used a single time. Gongon’s pistol was different in that regard. Junhyuk was stunned.

The mountaintop was gone, and the path of the blast stretched on even further.

“It’s better than your firebreath.”

Gongon laughed out loud and raised his goggles. Looking at his weapon, he said, “Even mighty dragons don’t have this kind of firepower.”

“Can you fire it continuously?”

“It only fires for a minute, but I can fire five shots in that time. So, it’s better than my firebreath.”

Junhyuk knew how powerful the weapon was. Gongon couldn’t use it in the Dimensional Battlefield, but in the real world, it could be a double-edged sword. It could be very dangerous to dragons.

Others could use it to hunt dragons.

Looking at the weapon, Gongon muttered, “It’s more destructive than Elise’s weapon, but it can’t shoot like Elise’s weapon. I can’t use it in the Dimensional Battlefield this way. I need to make changes to it.”

“It was very impressive.”

Junhyuk didn’t know the weapon’s maximum output and if that had been it, but it was extremely impressive. There would be no need for dynamite to carve tunnels with a weapon like that in hand.

“Gon.”

“What? I’m busy.”

Junhyuk said seriously, “That weapon, would it work against a dragon?”

Gongon froze before shaking his head.

“It would depend on the dragon. In the case of elder dragons, this weapon would only be able to destroy their force fields.”

“Can you decrease its fire rate to increase its power?”

Junhyuk looked straight at him and said, “You mean a weapon to kill me.”

“I won’t use it on you.”

Gongon laughed and said, “You have to promise me something.”

“What is it?”

“That you’ll free those in bondage by the dimensional managers.”

“I promise.”

Junhyuk had no reason to kill dragons unless those dragons attacked Earth.

Gongon smiled and said, “Give me another core next time. I’ll make you a really powerful one.”

Elise’s magitek was the best, but even so, dragon magic never ceased to impress, especially Gongon’s magitek. The dragon had been studying mechanical engineering and making great advances.

He had a special place among the dragons.

Junhyuk promised Gongon the core and disconnected. He closed his eyes and thought of Gongon’s new weapon.

With it, he was confident that, if they sent another dragon to Earth, he would be able to deal with it. He was much stronger now even without Gongon’s weapon.

However, it was possible that there would be more than one dragon, or more monsters than a dragon. The others should be able to deal with any mob monsters without Junhyuk.

Junhyuk had been thinking about all that, and Gongon had acquiesced to his need.

“It might take a while…”

He was grateful for Gongon and the little dragon’s willingness to build him a version of that new weapon.

—

Junhyuk didn’t contact Gongon again. He would make his decisions after meeting Gongon on the battlefield.

It was Friday. Elise and Sarang had come to his room, and Junhyuk watched Elise in the Champions’ Battlefield.

The returns were set at 1.8 times the bet. Elise had crafted another set item, and with it, she swept through the battlefield. Buffed by Elise, Aditya had killed the enemy champions many times.

Their ally didn’t do much, but during the team battle, Elise provided them support.

Junhyuk smiled as he watched. It was a decisive victory. The returns would be much lower next time, but he didn’t care. He was winning a lot of gold regardless.

After the enemy castle was destroyed, Junhyuk got up from his seat, and Ariel looked at him.

[You had bet 700,000G on Elise’s team. After the 5 percent commission, you’ll receive 1,137,150G.]

Junhyuk smiled with satisfaction.

“Thanks, Ariel.”

[No need to thank me. I didn’t do anything.]

Junhyuk shrugged and said, “See you next time.”

[See you!]

Junhyuk returned to Earth. His plan was to buy the training facility with the gold he had won. He also wanted new equipment, but he would get the facility first.

The training facility wouldn’t make him stronger, but it would allow him to meet other heroes on Earth and to spar with them.

“And, I can drink with my friends.”

Thinking about seeing his friends, Junhyuk became happy.

When Junhyuk returned to his room, he saw Sarang trying not to cheer aloud.

“Did you win a lot of gold?”

“I spent most of it on the set, so I couldn’t bet as much as I wanted, but I won some.”

“The returns will be even lower next time.”

“Yeah.”

The enemy champions couldn’t craft items like Elise could. He would bet on her again next time.

Junhyuk waited for Elise to wake up, and when she opened her eyes, she smiled at him.

“You are the best!” Sarang told her.

She hugged Elise, and Elise patted her back.

“My reward was unexpected. I got upgrade stones.”

Junhyuk cheered.

“The upgrade stones from the Champions’ Battlefield are different from Bebe’s. They increase the base damage stat of your weapon. How many did you get?”

Elise smacked her lips and said, “I got seven. Should I apply them?”

Junhyuk nodded, and Elise did so happily.

Her weapon wasn’t a legendary item, but it was extremely powerful. After applying the upgrade stones, her weapon became just as powerful as any legendary. She was all smiles.

“I should be going,” Elise said and left.

Sarang yawned hard and looked at him.

“Big brother, a.n.a.lyzing my powers has helped me.”

“Sure. We’ll become stronger on Earth.”

Junhyuk had learned to a.n.a.lyze his powers from Artlan. After that, Sarang went to her training facility, and Junhyuk went to his.

That Friday, everyone returned, and a novice became an expert. The powered people were training hard.

Without any waves, time pa.s.sed quickly, and soon, it was Friday again. When he walked into his room, he saw the two already there. They were advancing, which meant they would probably be summoned at noon. Sarang and Elise had brought snacks, with Sarang bringing a lot of instant products.

“I don’t want to eat too much.”

He laughed at her, and they had lunch together. Elise had dark circles around her eyes, and she looked very tired. Sarang seemed radiant. She had also learned more spells, which was a good thing.

Looking at them, Junhyuk said, “We’re advancing. Our opponents won’t be easy.”

Sarang smiled at him and said, “I don’t think we’ll lose. We still have to win without dying so much, however.”

Junhyuk nodded and turned to Elise.

“This time, after we take the buff tower, we’ll go buff hunting. If the buff monsters drop anything, I’ll give it to you, Elise.”

“Hopefully, something from the new buff monsters.”

Elise could buff him, so he was willing to invest in her powers. Her buffs were a certainty in making him stronger. Once they finished eating, they had tea. It was 11:40 a.m.

After finishing his tea, Junhyuk sat on his usual chair and said, “See you soon.”

It was important to have a quiet mind before going to the Dimensional Battlefield. The bright light covered his vision, and the world disappeared in white.