Chapter 118: Special Event, Survival (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 118: Special Event, Survival (3)
A massive surge of power erupted. Space itself tore open, and the charging enemies vanished in an instant.
Though he had successfully escaped the immediate crisis, Kang Jun-hyeok’s expression remained grim.
My internal energy consumption is too high.
The enemies appeared in infinite waves. If he expended more power than necessary, he would eventually be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. He couldn't afford to waste a single drop of energy.
He had to maintain a perfect balance, using only the absolute minimum amount of internal energy required to break through the situation.
"Whew..."
He let out a deep breath. His internal energy circulated delicately through his body.
A spear lunged toward his head. He twisted his neck to evade the strike and lightly tapped the skeleton’s neck. It was a minimal application of force, but by striking a vital point, the skeleton’s frame collapsed.
Whoosh!
A greatsword swung down. He moved his fingers, lightly touching the side of the blade to parry the blow. Channeling that same momentum, he struck the knight’s chest.
Clang!
The knight’s armor crumpled as if hit by a cannonball. In the process, Kang Jun-hyeok consumed almost none of his own strength.
Clash! Clang!
The onslaught continued—swords, greatswords, and fireballs. He parried and deflected the relentless attacks like a rock standing firm in the middle of a rushing river.
[Ho.]
The Master of All Weapons, who had been watching, expressed genuine admiration.
Kang Jun-hyeok’s movements had reached a level of refinement far beyond anything he had displayed previously.
"Haaaa..."
He took long, deep breaths, further optimizing and restraining his internal energy. As a result, he managed to endure the storm of attacks without sustaining any major injuries.
[50:00]
Fifty minutes had passed.
At that moment, the mounted cavalry appeared.
[Neeeeeigh!]
A knight riding a skeleton horse charged wildly with a spear. Kang Jun-hyeok raised his shield to block.
Kaaaaang!
Kang Jun-hyeok’s body skidded backward. He furrowed his brow.
Cavalry at the end? They’re strong.
The force of the charge, accelerated by the horse, was enough to push him back.
Clack, clack, clack!
Purple skeletons. Soldiers raised their swords to occupy the surrounding space.
Boom!
Skeleton mages unleashed fireballs that blanketed the sky.
Whoosh!
Skeleton knights pressured Kang Jun-hyeok, swinging their greatswords.
[Neeeeeigh!]
And the skeleton cavalry sought to deliver the finishing blow with their spears.
Clang! Screeeech!
He blocked, deflected, and parried. But it was dizzying. His physical abilities and internal energy alone weren't enough to keep up. He began to take hits, one by one.
Kang Jun-hyeok glanced at the timer.
[50:54]
The goal of the quest was to survive for one hour.
There were about nine minutes left.
There would likely be no further reinforcements.
It was time to use the cards he had been saving.
[Stealth.]
Kang Jun-hyeok’s body vanished. When he reappeared, he was right next to the skeleton mages.
Crunch!
The skeleton mages were incredibly fragile. With a single wide swing of his greatsword, dozens of them were shattered at once.
Whoosh!
A knight aimed for Kang Jun-hyeok’s head. He kicked off the ground and jumped to evade. While he was in the air, a cavalryman tried to impale him with a spear.
[Air Jump.]
He kicked the air to dodge. Grabbing the cavalryman’s head, he threw him off his horse.
[Spear Throw.]
Thwack!
A spear shattered the head of a soldier aiming for Kang Jun-hyeok as he descended.
Landing on the ground, Kang Jun-hyeok immediately stomped his foot.
[Earth Shake.]
Rumble!
The earth shook violently. The skeletons stumbled momentarily. Seizing the opening, Kang Jun-hyeok instantly regained his stance and attacked.
Crack! Snap!
The heads of the skeletons flew off in unison.
He had succeeded in shaking the ground nearby with his skill, but the skeletons further away were unaffected. A barrage of fireballs poured down, covering the sky.
Kang Jun-hyeok held his greatsword in one hand and pulled out an orb with the other. A ruby popped out of the orb and was tossed into the sky. The magic formula within it activated.
K-boom!
Red rocks erupted, swallowing the flames. They flew forward and swept over the mages. With a massive explosion, dozens of mages were turned into splinters.
Crunch.
He quickly drew a dagger and crushed the soldiers who entered his range. He then switched to a spear and impaled a charging cavalryman.
Clang! Clash!
Kang Jun-hyeok was holding his own amidst the relentless assault.
The Master of All Weapons muttered as he watched.
[Remarkable.]
Kang Jun-hyeok’s utilization of his skills. His grasp of the Tower’s structure. His foresight and concentration to achieve his goal. These were certainly special. Even compared to himself, Jun-hyeok was clearly superior in those regards.
However, that was strictly his ability as a Player.
The Master of All Weapons acknowledged Kang Jun-hyeok as a Player, but he hadn't thought much of him beyond that.
But that evaluation was now crumbling.
[I didn't expect him to respond so close to perfection.]
A one-against-many battle. The enemy composition included soldiers, knights, mages, and cavalry. Various groups were working as one to target Kang Jun-hyeok.
This was a chaotic melee, closer to a war than a duel.
No matter how great a master one was, they could die helplessly in a war. In fact, the Master of All Weapons had seen many first-rate masters deployed to battlefields by imperial decree, only to die from stray blades or arrows.
But Kang Jun-hyeok was different.
He was handling every card he possessed at the opportune moment to deal with the chaos.
His movements showed a perfect understanding of how to respond in such a situation and how to fight to turn the tide in his favor.
[This...]
This wasn't something possible through talent or innate ability alone.
Experience.
These were movements that could only be performed by someone who had experienced thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of battles—someone who had built up a mountain of experience.
[I was certain Earth was a peaceful world. Where on earth did he gain such experience?]
The Master of All Weapons muttered in confusion. Even as he spoke, the battle continued.
Clang!
His posture broke while responding to the onslaught. A cavalryman seized the opening. He couldn't muster enough strength to block the thrusting spear. Kang Jun-hyeok made a split-second decision and thrust his greatsword forward.
[Shock.]
The moment the greatsword and spear collided, he activated the skill.
A powerful shock hit the knight, flipping his body over.
[Charge.]
Boom!
He used his body to ram through the opening created, clearing some space. He pulled out the orb again and grabbed a diamond. He threw it straight at the ground.
Craaaaack!
A wave of intense physical force blanketed the earth. The skeletons were pushed back in a row. He took a long breath in and out to steady his breathing.
Skills with long cooldowns.
And the gems being consumed.
These were precious cards that, once used, could not be used again in this battle. He had endured as long as possible without using them. It was time to reap the rewards of that patience.
[55:43]
There were about four minutes left. The skeletons’ movements became even more precise. Like a single living organism, they formed a perfect encirclement, targeting Kang Jun-hyeok without leaving a single gap.
[Spear Throw.]
The thrown spear shattered the head of a charging knight. He used Repulsion to push back his surroundings. A crack appeared in the perfect encirclement, and he didn't miss the chance to smash everything around him.
[Rift Movement.]
[Sword Ki and Sword Wind.]
He moved behind the mages and unleashed sword ki. After enduring like that, it finally became the 59th minute.
[Pixie's Wings.]
Wings sprouted from Kang Jun-hyeok’s back, and his body floated into the air.
The skeletons stared up at him blankly, like dogs chasing a chicken that had flown onto a roof. The mages frantically threw fireballs, but he evaded them with light movements.
And finally.
[60:00]
One hour was up.
The skeletons collapsed in heaps. Kang Jun-hyeok landed on the ground and caught his breath.
"That wasn't easy."
Enduring a non-stop onslaught for an hour. Although his system-based health had been restored as much as possible through the power of Royal Blood, his physical stamina was significantly depleted.
His internal energy was hitting rock bottom, and his skills were mostly spent. A single mistake could have been extremely dangerous.
Still, it hadn't been impossibly difficult. He probably could have lasted another ten minutes if it had continued.
"Whew."
Kang Jun-hyeok stretched. Since he had cleared it smoothly, all that was left was to receive the reward. He waited to be sent back to Earth.
But no matter how long he waited, he didn't move.
"Why isn't it ending?"
Just as a look of confusion crossed Kang Jun-hyeok’s face.
Clack.
A short distance away from him.
From atop the pile of skeletons, a being rose.
A skeleton draped in a black robe rose into the air. It held a black scythe in one hand, and its eyes glowed gray.
It was the Grim Reaper. Eldiria and the Master of All Weapons were taken aback.
[...Wait a minute.]
[Hmm?]
The Grim Reaper looked at Kang Jun-hyeok.
Shiver.
The moment their eyes met, goosebumps erupted across his skin. Kang Jun-hyeok’s intuition screamed a warning.
That was a being that could kill him instantly.
It possessed a status that could ruin the world just by breathing.
[60:01]
The timer began to run again.
The Grim Reaper raised its scythe.
Hum.
The Reaper moved. As if space itself were being compressed, it arrived beside Kang Jun-hyeok. The scythe swung toward his neck.
The movement seemed incredibly slow.
But that wasn't because it was actually slow. It was because his senses, perched on the edge of life and death, had expanded infinitely, stretching time thin.
He couldn't dodge. He couldn't block. He couldn't parry.
Death.
[Rift Movement.]
Just before the scythe could sever his neck, he leaped through space.
[60:02]
The time it took to get there was only one second.
He succeeded in getting as far away as possible from its line of sight, but there was no room to breathe. Before he could even blink, the Reaper was beside him again. Kang Jun-hyeok gripped his orb.
He pulled out every gem he had, except for a ruby he kept deep in reserve.
K-BOOM!
A violent explosion shook the world. Kang Jun-hyeok was blown back by the force.
But there wasn't a single scratch on the Reaper’s body.
[60:03]
Kang Jun-hyeok raised his hand.
[Heaven-Defying Spear of Jealousy.]
The God of Jealousy. The Authority Zelesi had granted him.
The higher the opponent’s status and power were compared to his own, the more its power increased.
A spear of bizarre shape appeared and pierced the Grim Reaper.
BOOOOOOM!
An intense force erupted, as if a massive bomb had gone off. The shockwave alone was enough to push Kang Jun-hyeok back. Perhaps this time it couldn't be ignored, as the Reaper’s body wavered.
Even so, there was still not a single wound.
Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes turned blood-red.
[60:04]
[True Ancestor Awakening.]
The power of the great True Ancestor dwelled within Kang Jun-hyeok. He lashed out at the Reaper with tendrils of blood.
The scythe moved lightly.
The blood tendrils burst, and Kang Jun-hyeok’s body was blasted in all directions.
It was a force that would have literally torn him to pieces if not for the System’s protection.
[60:05]
"Cough!"
But he didn't die. Gathering his blood to defend as much as possible, he attacked again. The scythe swung lightly.
Crunch.
His chest was pierced.
[Grace of Benevolence.]
He reached out with a trembling hand. He tried to thrust his blood to blow apart the Reaper’s head.
Kang Jun-hyeok clenched his fist.
BOOOOOM!
A violent explosion of blood.
The Reaper’s body shook slightly.
But that was all.
The scythe dug into Kang Jun-hyeok’s heart. Death came for him.
[HP 1/990]
At that moment, the Grim Reaper vanished.
Left alone in the ruined world, Kang Jun-hyeok gasped for air.
"What... was that?"
[60:06]
The timer stopped. Soon, a being appeared.
"Yahoo! Hello!"
A girl with long black hair. The Administrator was looking at him with a beaming smile.
"You reached the very end of the special event! I knew you could do it! Congratulations on the clear!"