Chapter 171: 36th Floor. Madman (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: 36th Floor. Madman (3)
“What must I do to earn your recognition?”
“It isn't difficult. Based on what you’ve said, it should actually be quite easy.”
The Madman smirked.
“This is a discarded battlefield. A graveyard where Victors and Losers once clashed fiercely, yet none emerged triumphant. That is exactly why I chose this place.”
Countless things had been left behind and abandoned here. It was an environment perfectly optimized for the Madman’s experiments. He raised a finger, pointing into the distance.
“Go east. There’s a fatty guarding that area. Kill him and return. Since you claim you’re going to clear the Tower, you should be able to handle that much, right?”
“Of course.”
Kang Jun-hyeok nodded. The Madman chuckled and plopped down onto the ground.
“I’ll be waiting right here. Come back once you’ve caught him.”
“Wait for my return.”
Kang Jun-hyeok began moving toward the location the Madman had indicated. Eldiria let out a small sigh of relief.
[Aren’t you being a bit too bold? I may have threatened him, but even for me, it is difficult to intervene directly within the Tower. If that man truly tried to kill you himself, there would have been no way to stop him.]
“It was likely a bluff from the start. There’s no need to worry.”
The Madman had only lost his mind because of his obsession with the Victors; his ability to reason wasn't broken. On the contrary, he was someone who could calmly assess which actions would benefit him more than anyone else.
As Jun-hyeok moved forward, he encountered all sorts of bizarre sights. Fragments of Victors were fused with cosmic matter, creating forms that defied description. It was incredibly alien. Even though he was clearly in space, it felt as if he had traveled to a location completely detached from reality.
[The atmosphere is as foul as ever.]
[It is unpleasant, indeed.]
Both Eldiria and the Master of All Weapons expressed their displeasure. It was a sight that any being of the universe would find repulsive. However, Kang Jun-hyeok was remarkably relaxed, as peaceful as if he were taking a stroll through the hills behind his house.
Eldiria murmured in wonder.
[You seem accustomed to this.]
“Do I?”
[Yes. It is as if you have seen places like this many times before.]
Kang Jun-hyeok offered a silent smile. She wasn't wrong. In fact, it was rarer for him to have seen the universe in its normal state. After the Tower closed, this kind of scenery became the default state of the universe. He had spent most of his life living in such a broken world.
‘But.’
It would be different this time. He wouldn't let it turn out that way again. Kang Jun-hyeok put strength into his steps.
And at the end of his path, he encountered it. A yellow pig the size of a house.
[You have encountered a fragment of the Yellow Pig, a Victor of the Great War.]
* * *
The pig’s color was incredibly eerie. It was a hue that could not exist naturally, looking as if it had been forcibly painted with fluorescent powder. The pig was rooting its head into the earth, letting out guttural cries.
[The Yellow Fatty, I see.]
[We used to call it by that name. It has been a long time.]
The Yellow Pig was, quite literally, a yellow pig. Among the Victors, it was one of the few whose appearance resembled that of a universal being. Because it looked almost cute in a strange way, some Players used to call it the "Yellow Fatty."
[Squeal. Squeal.]
The pig kept its head buried in the ground, constantly shoving something into its maw. Kang Jun-hyeok took a step forward.
Crunch.
[Squeal?]
At the sound of the ground shifting, the pig flinched. It quickly raised its head and locked eyes with Kang Jun-hyeok.
[Squeeaaaalll!]
Then, the ground surged. With a crater left in its wake, the pig flew toward Kang Jun-hyeok. Its wide-open maw was filled with darkness, resembling a bottomless abyss.
Shiver.
The Boundary of Death activated. If he fell into that maw, he would die.
Kang Jun-hyeok kicked off the ground. With a thunderous boom, the pig slammed its head into the empty earth.
K-booooom!
The ground shook. The pig, having instantly chewed and swallowed whatever entered its mouth, kicked its hind legs again. It charged toward Kang Jun-hyeok like a locomotive.
It was fast and powerful. If he let his guard down for even a moment, he wouldn't be able to dodge. Kang Jun-hyeok evaded the strike and raised his arm. A Beam Rifle appeared in his hand.
Vreeeee!
A laser fired at the pig. The creature didn't dodge; it simply opened its mouth. The laser was swallowed whole by the abyss inside its maw.
Crunch. Munch. Gulp.
The sound of something being chewed and digested echoed.
[Burp.]
The pig let out a satisfied belch. It had swallowed and digested the laser itself. It hadn't blocked or absorbed the attack—it had literally eaten it.
‘Same as always.’
The Victor, the Yellow Pig. Its ability was to devour all things in existence. It was a being that could consume not just simple power, but even concepts. The abyss inside its open maw caused everything to vanish into nothingness. Attacks directed at its interior were meaningless.
However, that didn't mean attacking its exterior was effective either.
Thump!
The pig kicked the ground again. Jun-hyeok narrowly dodged the incoming charge and pulled out a spear.
[Thrust.]
The sharp spear pierced the pig’s flank.
Clang!
But it was deflected. A repulsion force surged back, threatening to overwhelm Kang Jun-hyeok. He used Balancing to steady his body, which was about to be blown away. It didn't feel like he was deflected because he lacked strength or speed. It felt as if being deflected was a natural phenomenon, like an image reflecting in a mirror.
Kang Jun-hyeok thought as he dodged another charge.
‘This is the same too. Even as a fragment, it’s no different from the original.’
The Yellow Pig’s hide boasted absolute defense. That wasn't an exaggeration. No being in the universe had ever managed to wound that yellow skin. It wasn't a matter of it being simply hard or having high defense; it was an absolute concept that reflected everything that touched it.
It devours all attacks directed at its interior. It perfectly deflects all attacks directed at its exterior. An ability bordering on absurdity.
Kang Jun-hyeok used Observation on his opponent, but no answer came. It wasn't an opponent he could understand with a mere B-rank proficiency. This was a Victor who had conquered the universe. Countless universal beings and Players had despaired and knelt before that power.
And Kang Jun-hyeok had killed countless such Victors. He tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.
* * *
K-boom!
The earth shattered. The Yellow Pig devoured everything that entered its mouth, then immediately lunged at Kang Jun-hyeok.
Kang Jun-hyeok didn't dodge. Waiting until the very last second, he tossed a gem into the pig’s mouth. Just before being swallowed, his body moved through a rift.
[Rift Movement.]
Boom!
The gem exploded inside the pig’s mouth. For an ordinary being, it would have been a fatal wound, but the pig digested it without issue and belched.
Kang Jun-hyeok calmly analyzed the phenomenon without a change in expression. What he had thrown was a high-purity ruby. It possessed enough power to devastate a portion of a forest. The time it took for the Yellow Pig to digest that power was three seconds.
‘At this rate...’
He could take it down. Kang Jun-hyeok stood still. Eldiria was startled by his seemingly defenseless posture.
[Kang Jun-hyeok?]
Thump!
The Yellow Pig charged. Facing the abyss looming right before him, Kang Jun-hyeok raised his hand.
[Glory of the Lost God.]
[Reset. Enhancement. Glory of the Lost God.]
[Heaven-Defying Spear of Jealousy.]
Great divine Authorities erupted one after another. They were sucked into the abyss that devoured everything. The Yellow Pig’s body momentarily bloated.
[Gurgle. Guuuurgle.]
It tried to chew and swallow the surging power. But no matter how much it digested, its bloated body only grew larger.
And then.
Crack.
With the sound of something breaking, the Yellow Pig let out a scream.
[Squeeaaaaalll!]
The Yellow Pig vomited. Half-digested energy poured out like surging liquid. Kang Jun-hyeok lightly stepped back.
“As I thought.”
[You noticed it quite well.]
The Master of All Weapons murmured in surprise.
The Yellow Pig devours and digests power, and deflects all force directed at its skin. While it possessed a near-invincible ability, it had a clear weakness: there was a limit to how much power it could digest at once. If that limit was exceeded, it would vomit the power and suffer internal injuries. Targeting that limit was the strategy for defeating the Yellow Pig.
The Master of All Weapons spoke in an incredulous tone.
[My word. It is still amazing. Can this even be called simple intuition?]
The Master of the Universe had blocked all transmission of strategies regarding the Victors. One had to learn by clashing with them personally. Yet Kang Jun-hyeok had realized it immediately and responded. It was incomprehensible.
But it was only natural. In the distant past, how did ancestors distinguish poisonous mushrooms? The answer was simple: if you ate it and died, it was poisonous; if you lived, it was edible. They had barely managed to find answers through a long, bloody history.
And the path Kang Jun-hyeok had walked was the history of the universe’s destruction.
‘The Yellow Pig.’
It had taken a year just to figure out that strategy. One thousand eight hundred Players died.
‘Hunger Growing in the Rift.’
It had taken four years to figure out the only way to counter Rift Movement. Five thousand two hundred Players died.
The number of Players who died to the warships of the Empire from Somewhere exceeded ten million.
He knew the strategies for the Victors. More accurately, he had to know them. He had to know, for if he didn't, the past he had walked—the previous life that only he remembered—would vanish into meaningless vanity.
[Squeal!]
The staggering pig rose again and charged. Kang Jun-hyeok dodged it with ease.
“I still lack enough power, it seems.”
But it didn't matter. Damage would eventually accumulate inside the Yellow Pig. He just had to build it up slowly. The cooldown for Glory of the Lost God was three days.
“This will be a bit of a long battle,” Kang Jun-hyeok murmured softly.
The battle continued. Kang Jun-hyeok responded perfectly to the Yellow Pig. He grasped its movements and behavioral patterns, evading them with precision. When his power was ready, he detonated it precisely toward the interior.
It was truly perfect. A textbook response, as if he had repeated it thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of times. The Master of All Weapons and Eldiria let out involuntary groans of admiration.
And exactly twelve days later.
[Squeeaaalll...]
The Yellow Pig collapsed.
[Level Up.]
[Stamina +40]
[Strength +2]
[Speed +1]
[Internal Energy +1]
[Proficiency in Glory of the Lost God has increased significantly.]
[Swordsmanship...]
[You have acquired the Title: Victor Slaughterer.]