Chapter 144: 144

Chapter 144

Kang Woongmin was full of confidence.

[Using the special skill Sturdy Body.]

[Using the special skill Unbreaking Will.]

These two were his fundamental skills as a Player. When ‘Sturdy Body’ was in effect, he didn’t even need to fear the attack of an Orc.

[Defense is increasing from the effect of Sturdy Body.]

[The sensation of pain is reduced by the effect of Unbreaking Will.]

Getting hit didn’t hurt. There was the theoretical downside of not being able to feel pain until he was a hair’s breadth away from death if he overused the skill, but that hadn’t happened yet. With the increase in defense and the dulling of pain, he could take a far more fierce and active stance in battle.

‘I actually prepared this to fight the Tutorial Ender, but…’

It was a good opportunity to look good in front of Song Junghye. But just then, he heard a voice.

“What’s wrong? Going to use the Nile Armor’s special effect?”

Woongmin flinched. ‘He knows about Nile Armor?’

This item hid a special power within it. It could reflect a portion of the incoming damage to the opponent. Granted, you had to use it with extremely good timing, but after a lot of practice, he was pretty good at getting it right.

“But what to do?”

No matter which angle you looked at it from, Isabel’s forcibly unlocked innate ability, [Beat ‘em, Beat ‘em, Beat ‘em Harder] was far higher in grade than the Nile Armor’s [Reflect].

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

And so began the beating.

Woongmin was forced to take several steps backwards.

‘Ngh…!’

His entire body was tingling and numb.

‘But it didn’t even look like he used his full strength!’

The other party didn’t seem to have put much strength in the blows, and yet, Woongmin felt incredible pain, even under the effect of [Unbreaking Will]. Without the skill, he might be rolling around in agony on the ground right now.

‘What’s going on?’

He felt a surge of panic.

“Can’t even consider matching the timing while getting hit, can you?”

That was the limitation of items with the [Reflect] effect. The higher the difficulty or level of the monster, the more difficult it was to get the timing right.

Kim Hyukjin was well aware of that.

‘In the higher levels, such items are hardly ever used.’

In battles of the highest level, the smallest thing could decide victory or loss. The angle of your arm, the intensity of your movement, even the moment you breathed. All of them could have a big influence on the result. In such a situation, who would have the presence of mind to try getting the timing right?

It would be tricky, unless you could freely use a power on the level of Future Sight. Even if you could, it wouldn’t be cost-effective. For Rankers of that level, it was more efficient to focus on their strengths rather than try to calculate the correct timing for [Reflect] and risk their lives.

‘And when there’s a big stat difference with the opponent, it’s completely useless.’

That was the case now.

[Using the innate ability Beat ‘em, Beat ‘em, Beat ‘em Harder.]

A one-sided beating ensued. In his panic, Kang Woongmin used a foot technique in order to dodge the unceasing rain of blows. He made it seem like he was taking a step backwards, but moved to the right.

‘Three steps to the right,’ Woongmin thought to himself. Then, he would take two steps back.

‘Ngh!’

But Hyukjin completely saw through his movements.

Kim Hyukjin was faster, at least one second faster than him. The sovereign was waiting and swinging his sword where Woongmin was dodging.

Whumpf!

The air whistled.

In order to avoid an attack that was not piercing, not slashing, but slamming, Woongmin threw himself forward into a roll before springing back up.

He bit his lips.

‘This is insane.’

How was it that a non-combat class Player could fight like this? Woongmin was breathing hard in a quick staccato, but his opponent was the picture of calm, a tranquil andante, like he wasn’t exerting himself one bit. He was moving all too leisurely. Song Junghye was watching from the back. Things couldn’t go on like this.

‘In that case…’

He decided to use the card he’d hidden up his sleeve for the very end to fight the nimble Shin Yeonseo. He would make a last ditch gamble using the special effect attached to the ‘Millon’s Leather Shoes’ he had recently obtained.

Effect:

Quickspeed – Instantly accelerates to twice the speed. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)

Currently, Kim Hyukjin was full of confidence. In other words, he was being conceited and his guard was down. Now was Woongmin’s chance.

‘I’ll use Quickspeed—’

But then, Hyukjin’s voice interrupted his thoughts once again.

“You’re probably thinking of finding an opening with Quickspeed.”

“…”

By this point, Woongmin was about to lose his fighting spirit. Nile Armor was a pretty well-known item, but Millon’s Leather Shoes were incredibly rare. It was even blue grade. And yet, Kim Hyukjin saw through a blue item’s special effect.

‘I have no other choice, anyway,’ Woongmin thought, gritting his teeth. He couldn’t just pathetically surrender. Whether it worked or not, he had to try.

‘This fight… is my loss.’

He already knew. There was a massive wall in front of him. His information about Kim Hyukjin was wrong, incredibly wrong. He should have looked into him a little more. He was too blinded by the fact that Hyukjin was given a ‘No Talent’ evaluation.

‘Even so…’

He drew out his strength. Even if he lost, he had to do his best.

[Using the special ability Quickspeed.]

He knew Kim Hyukjin had already seen through all of this. But he still charged forward, raising his axe.

[Using the skill Hammer Smash.]

He didn’t think it would work anyway. This was the end. Once his axe came down, the result would be decided.

‘Huh?’

But it was weird. Kim Hyukjin didn’t react.

‘What?’

Hammer Smash was a technique where the user jumped and smashed down. It dealt a lot of damage because it carried the user’s full weight, but that also meant it was telegraphed. It wasn’t even that fast an attack. But Kim Hyukjin wasn’t reacting.

‘At this rate…!’

This axe would be able to cleave Kim Hyukjin’s head. The wicked edge was about to make contact.

‘No way.’

He couldn’t believe it. Was it really going to hit?

A heavy impact rang out.

The axe crashed into Kim Hyukjin’s head.

‘It hit.’

But Kim Hyukjin didn’t seem to have taken much damage. He simply gave his brief impression of the move.

“Mm. About that strong, huh?” Hyukjin gave a light nod. “Not bad.”

“…”

Woongmin’s hand trembled. His shoulder felt like it was going to fall apart. In the next moment, Hyukjin brought Isabel to Woongmin’s throat.

Woongmin honestly admitted defeat. “It’s my loss.”

Hyukjin withdrew Isabel. Unable to resist his curiosity, Woongmin said, “Mr. Kim Hyukjin. Can I ask you just one question?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Why did you just take the last attack?”

“To see how much it would hurt if it landed.”

“…”

Such idle leisure drove him to stay put in the face of an incoming axe?

“…And your assessment?”

“Not bad.”

Hyukjin’s assessment of Kang Woongmin really was ‘not bad’.

[The Great Orc Warrior’s partial set effect is activating.]

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[All damage has been nullified.]

The effect that perfectly nullified all attacks under level 35 activated. In other words, the attack had been strong enough to activate the partial set effect.

“…I see.”

Woongmin stowed his axe in his Inventory. He slightly bit his lips.

There’s always someone better.

It felt as if he’d glimpsed a sky above the sky he knew.

‘I was just a frog in a well.’

If the sovereign Kim Hyukjin was this strong, what about the PVP expert Shin Yeonseo and the Tutorial Ender So Yoohyun? As real combat classes, they must be even stronger.

‘I need to work harder.’

He had to get stronger. He was basically a minnow.

“May I please ask one more question? It’s really the last one.”

His way of speech had subtly changed, something Hyukjin recognized.

–Mr. Kim Hyukjin. Can I ask you just one question?

–May I please ask one more question? It’s really the last one.

‘Can’ became ‘may’. It was much more courteous.

Summary:

Frog in a Well that has seen the Sky

Frog that wants to Fly

Hyukjin was pretty pleased with those summaries.

“I know the sovereign class isn’t a direct combat class. That means your non-combat abilities must be even stronger. Are you able to overwhelm me with any non-combat abilities?”

“…”

There was a faint longing and anticipation in Kang Woongmin’s eyes. He was purely curious about Hyukjin’s strength.

“Overwhelm, you say…”

Kang Woongmin was perfectly fulfilling his role in the picture Hyukjin was painting.

“Then let me give you a taste. Of the sovereign class’ true strength.”

He wasn’t actually a sovereign, but he showed yet another power he possessed.

[Using the special ability Mettle.]

‘And this… is fan service for the Conductor of Sound.’

You had to make good use of the reward that was given to satisfy the giver, no?

[Using the special skill Conductor’s Hymn.]

First, he showed Hunter’s Song, and now, he was using Conductor’s Hymn. His body began to shine with a golden light. To the completely defeated Kang Woongmin, that light was like a sovereign’s radiance.

4) Effectiveness of abilities like ‘Pressure’ or ‘Mettle’ will be increased when used in combination with Conductor’s Hymn. (However, requires a separate fusion control ability)

It wasn’t a group battle, but he could still use the new ability. Hyukjin already had a separate fusion control ability.

[The special ability Mettle is taking greater effect.]

On top of that—

[Using the innate ability of Observer’s Eye, Unique Ability Fusion.]

He even drew on the strength of Noah’s Helm, concentrating Mettle’s range. Perhaps because he’d done it before, but the process came to him much more easily this time.

Mettle was first strengthened by Conductor’s Hymn, then concentrated in one spot with Noah’s Helm using Unique Ability Fusion’s power of controlling multiple processes.

Everything came together to create a far more powerful Mettle than normal.

Rooooar–!

Kang Woongmin thought he heard roaring. There was no actual sound, but he thought he could hear it.

Riiiiiing–!

There was a ringing in his ears. His head felt as if it would explode. He covered his eyes, stricken by the terror that if he didn’t, they would explode. His heart began to run like crazy, and the blood being pumped by his wildly beating heart was flooded with terror. It filled every part of his body. Terror, sheer terror.

Thud.

Without realizing it, he fell to his knees.

“…”

For a long time, he was unable to speak. His body was trembling uncontrollably, still in shock.

‘This is… a sovereign.’

They didn’t fight, but he was defeated. His will to fight was completely crushed. Moments ago, he still wanted to get stronger and then have a rematch, but now, that thought was erased entirely from his mind.

“…You went very easy on me.”

Hyukjin answered with a shrug. As he did so, he heard a stream of notices.

[The quest ‘Qualifications of a Hunter’ has been cleared.]

[The grade of ‘Hunter’s Song’ has increased.]

[‘Hunter’s Song’ has changed to ‘Hunter’s March’.]

Pushed by the Conductor of Sound, the White Hunter gave a nearly equivalent reward. Hyukjin was very satisfied. It was like he caught two fish with one bait.

‘Excellent.’

After checking the effects of Hunter’s March, Hyukjin headed towards the Gwanghwamun Dungeon.

* * *

[Entering the ‘Gwanghwamun Dungeon’.]

I saw the King’s Road again. I had already passed it multiple times, and my teammates were also familiar with the clear method.

However, I was subjected to a slightly harder time than usual while going past it.

(I’m really gonna kill you.)

And that was because Isabel’s ego had woken up and was expressing her extreme displeasure.

(Don’t use my sacred body like that! Your bride isn’t a club!)

I thought she was asleep, but she apparently felt the gist of what happened earlier.

(I’m serious, hubby. I won’t let you off.)

As I walked the dark nothingness, I thought, ‘Everything else is fine, but can you stop with the hubby?’

There wasn’t a problem with the title itself, but something about it irked me.

(You think what I call you is important right now?) Isabel’s blade trembled. (You better hope I don’t get a body.)

How would a sword get a body?

(I won’t let you off.)

What was she gonna do if she got a body?

(I’ll take your chastity. Prepare yourself.)

With that, Isabel fell asleep again. I was dumbfounded. Who would have thought a sword would one day threaten to take my chastity?

We passed the Red Lion Statue and Blue Lion Statue, walking between the Millenium Lava and Millenium Ice Water in the Path of Harmony to reach the Gyeonghoeru field. Then, our work began. We continued to grind for a long time.

[Level increased.]

My level reached 34.

“Let’s stop here for today,” I said.

My level went up, and we also got all sorts of miscellaneous items. Yoohyun stretched wide, saying, “Goodness, this is tough, Hyungnim.”

After destroying the brown Clear Crystal, we left the Gyeonghoeru field.

‘Hrm?’

Waiting in front of the Gwanghwamun Dungeon entrance was the Guildmaster of Taeguk Shield, Song Kiyeol.

“Welcome back.”

“Were you waiting for me?”

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“Yes. There was something I urgently needed to tell you.”

I nodded. I could guess what he was going to say.

Song Kiyeol and I began a fun conversation.

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