Serpent Hunt (1)
I still remembered the serpent’s specs. Strength 276. Its Intelligence score was higher than mine, and its Perception was impressive too. But its Agility was definitely lower. The gap was narrow, yet given that massive body, there was no way it could match my reaction speed. So all I had to do was stall for time exactly as planned.
I yanked the rifle strap tight, securing the gun against my back, and drew the Crusader’s Sword. If I could just keep dodging and buying time—
“Huh?”
The serpent sprang.
My eyes widened. Its maw gaped open as the colossal shape hurtled closer by the second.
“Fuck—”
I threw my body backward. Down the corridor on the first floor, past the elevator, stretching longer with every desperate step. The moment I hurled myself away, a sickening impact slammed through me.
CRAAAAAASH!
It felt like my organs were being pureed. I tumbled across the floor. For a split second my mind went blank from the overwhelming shock. But I recovered far faster than before. This was on a completely different level from when I’d been running from the Preacher.
I slammed a tightly clenched fist against the floor. My left hand, wrapped in the Crusader’s Doubt, shoved my body upright. The instant I sprang up amid a cloud of concrete dust, a pale fleshy blur whipped through the spot I’d just vacated.
CRRRRACK!
Walls tore apart. Doors were ripped from their hinges and hurled aside. The sheer destructive power was dizzying. Even with my Perception pushed to ten points, I could barely track its trajectory. But at least I could see it.
I gritted my teeth and landed. The outcome was obvious. The serpent had smashed head-first into a crushed railing. That enormous skull—easily the size of a truck—had dozens of eyes locked onto me.
Fuck. It’s seriously fucking disgusting.
I forced the corners of my mouth upward into a grin.
“Hey, old man serpent. I owe you a shit-ton, don’t I?”
When I thought about it, the serpent had never truly been a direct threat to us. It was cautious. Cunning. It never stuck its face into places where gunfire echoed. It only showed itself when all it heard were the harmless screams and shouts of humans. It had done the same with those choir bastards and when we took down the Preacher. The creature knew guns were dangerous. That level of cunning was exactly how it had grown so large. It probably hadn’t started out this big.
That was why I had decided: if we wanted to survive, if we wanted to escape this place… we had to kill this serpent.
I wasn’t going to use the gun. Feeling the reassuring weight of the rifle strapped to my back, I gripped the bone blade that resembled a Japanese sword even tighter.
“But… isn’t it about time we finished this? Let’s settle it. Stop the pathetic staring contest, you coward.”
The eyes blinked. Not the countless black and brown serpent eyes, but a different set stared at me. Predator and prey. The rules were simple. If I got eaten, I lost. If I survived without being devoured, I won. And I was fucking confident.
“So come at me, you son of a bitch.”
The moment the serpent roared, I threw myself backward again.
The walls shattered like they were made of practice boards. Torn doors flew through the air. Shards of broken concrete rained everywhere. All I could do was hurl my body out of the way.
BOOOOOOM!
It still wasn’t time for the gun. Using it now would be pointless. I had to save it as long as possible. Unless my life was actually on the line.
Instead, I held the sword. The instant the serpent’s maw—having smashed through the railing—opened wide, I twisted my body. A sharp hiss cut through the air as a trajectory aimed at my head barely missed. A long tongue that looked like dozens of human arms stitched together. Three of them lashed toward me from different angles.
The sound of whipping wind. The chilling sensation that made my skin crawl. The difference in power was obvious. 276 versus 18—at least fifteen times stronger. Even a graze would kill me. So I couldn’t let it graze me, or I had to minimize the damage.
It was utterly unfair, but fortunately I had skills carved into my body. Master-rank Heavy Sword Technique. Advanced Brawling. Intermediate Athletics. The moment I recognized a sweeping trajectory, I twisted my entire body to dodge while swinging the blade.
SHIIIIING!
The serpent’s tongue, sliced open and bleeding, retreated. It writhed and twisted through the air like it was throwing a tantrum. I had to dodge. If I got hit, I needed to make it hurt as little as possible. My body moved on pure instinct, guided by thoughts that filled my head.
BAM! CRASH! BOOOOOOM!
I twisted to evade, leaped lightly to dodge, then threw myself away again. The tongue narrowed its path and closed in, but—
CLAAAAANG!
Right before impact, I layered the Crusader’s Doubt over the Crusader’s Sword to block. The moment my body was pushed back, I lifted my feet off the ground. Even as the force sent me flying, I wasn’t dead yet. I rolled across the apartment hallway, using the momentum to break my fall. My body screamed in protest, but I was still alive.
As I stood, forcing my throbbing bones to obey, the serpent opened its maw toward me. Its tongue was coiling inside that mouth. Something was coming. A blur accelerating at terrifying speed.
KWAAAAAANG!
I used Tadol on pure reflex. The instant I lowered my stance I accelerated. Instead of retreating, I charged straight in. I ducked under the strike before it could land and swung my sword at the same time.
CLANG!
The jarring impact rattled my bones. A severed piece of the serpent’s tongue rolled across the floor. What the fuck, is this a siege weapon? I let out a dry laugh and kicked off toward the gaping maw before it could fully open. I planted my foot on it. Tadol again. I twisted my body to change direction.
CRAAAAAAAAASH!
I’d expected to be pushed back a little, but I wasn’t. Instead, I was the one sent flying. I slammed into a wall spine-first and stopped.
“Ugh…”
In that instant, countless tongues rushed toward me. I scrambled to my feet and took a middle stance. I drew out every ounce of my Heavy Sword skill. I focused. The incoming trajectories were faintly visible. Then I wouldn’t give up. I sucked in a breath and stepped forward. With a battle cry, I swung.
CLANG!
I deflected with the flat of the blade and brought it down. CLAAAANG! I parried with the tip and sliced downward. CRRRK! SHIIING! Downward cuts, diagonal slashes, downward cuts again. Amid the spray of blood droplets, only my blade and the serpent’s tongues moved. I deflected them all. Blocked them. Struck them away.
But it wasn’t enough.
I surrendered my body to the inspiration that rose instinctively in my mind. THUD! I stomped and swung upward in a massive arc. I set the blade against the arm trying to pull back. SLAAAAASH! The sword strike powered by the stomp. An arm that had been knocked upward. I embedded the tip in that arm, twisted my body, and stomped again. Tadol. I charged while holding the blade horizontally.
SHRRRRRRRRRRK!
At the end of that acceleration, the long tongue split in half. At the same time I threw myself away from the attack flying toward my head. CRRRRIIIP! The sound of a wall tearing like paper. Even though the physical gap was overwhelming, the fight was still happening.
I’d wanted to save Tadol, but if I died saving it, there was no point. There was no room to hold back. If I could just piss the serpent off and keep its attention fixed on me, that was enough.
Then—
GOOOOOOOOOOOH!
Suddenly the serpent howled. CRACK! CRASH! Windows shattered. The sound hit me so hard it felt like my guts were flipping over. I dropped to one knee. Fuck. What the— Had those cultist bastards sounded similar when I screamed at them to shut up? Did having 276 Strength let a mere roar produce this kind of power?
As I tried to laugh at the absurdity, the serpent reared its body back violently.
“Ah, shit—”
I threw myself backward again, toward the elevator and stairs. The moment I did, a violent vibration and impact struck without warning.
KWAAAAAAAAANG!
The serpent had pulled its head back and slammed it forward. The entire apartment building shook from the blow. Every window exploded outward at once. Even with my excellent balance, I staggered and fell to the floor.
And it still wasn’t satisfied. The serpent extended its long limbs. They looked more like a lizard’s than a snake’s—endlessly long, grotesquely human-shaped. The limbs it usually kept folded away now gripped walls, floors, shattered windows, and debris, dragging its massive body upward.
“Hey, hey, fuck, hey…!”
It was climbing inside. Into the apartment. This crazy bastard has no limits.
The serpent stared straight at me as I staggered to my feet. I clenched my teeth.
KWAAAAAAAAANG!
The instant I used Tadol to rush toward the stairs, a huge red arm smashed down where I had been. At the same time the serpent’s colossal body charged past, crushing every wall in its path. The corridor crumbled. The building was collapsing.
There was only one option left. I spun and began racing down the stairs.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…!”
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Countless roars chased me as I descended. The sound of destruction. Concrete fragments raining through gaps in the railing. Is this insane fucker okay with the whole building collapsing?
The serpent was pursuing me down the stairs. Its flexibility was absurd. It smashed everything in its way and closed the distance with terrifying speed. The only reason I’d been able to buy time earlier was because the terrain had favored me. If we fought head-on, I would die. No one knew that better than I did.
In the end, my role was to endure. To buy time. It wouldn’t take that long, but the longer I held out, the higher our chances became. That was what killing the serpent meant.
I gritted my teeth and ran.
You Have Finally Come Face to Face With the Serpent of Eden
To see a wider world and witness greater things, you must defeat this mighty enemy. Prepare your weapons, steel your will, and get ready. This foe is more than worthy of the effort.
📍 Objective: Defeat Variant — Serpent of Eden 0/1
🎁 Reward: All Stats +5, Special Reward, Skill Grade Increase Ticket
My mind had already resolved to kill the serpent anyway.
BAM! BAM! CRAAAAASH!
“Ugh, fuck!”
Long arms and the serpent’s tongue kept shooting out between the stairs as I descended. I pressed myself against the wall to avoid one, then slid down to the next flight. Even as my back slammed against steps and my body tumbled, I couldn’t afford to stop. The moment I paused, I would die.
Feeling my throbbing body, I ran desperately. Sixth floor. Fifth. Fourth. Third. But the speed at which it smashed its way down was far too fast. If I kept fleeing like this, I would be caught.
There weren’t many options left. On the third floor I grabbed the railing, twisted my body, and used Tadol to accelerate.
KWAAAANG!
“Ugh…!”
I rolled across the floor but forced myself up and ran for the elevator. The elevator had stopped on the eighth floor. I grabbed the elevator doors.
BAM! BAM! BAM! KWAAAAAAAAANG!
The serpent smashed its way past the third floor and down toward the first. That brief window was my chance. I forced the elevator doors open.
CREEEEEEEAK!
The open doorway revealed no elevator car. Instead, I grabbed the maintenance ladder and slid down. Even as the burning friction tore through my leather gloves, I couldn’t stop. The maintenance shaft that appeared when the elevator was gone waited for me.
I opened the first-floor elevator doors. Bracing against the bumper, I pushed with hands and feet until the metal doors groaned open. Through the gap, the serpent finally chased me into the narrow space.
CRRRUNCH! KWAAAAAAAH!
It smashed through the half-open elevator doors on the third floor and thrust its head inside. Our eyes met. It was coming down. But before it could, the elevator components gave way. The car that had been waiting on the eighth floor began its free fall.
“Fuuuuuuuuuck!”
The instant I threw myself out onto the first floor, a dizzying sense of speed brushed past me and slammed into the serpent. A deafening roar that made my bones ache. Yet metal fragments still rained down, along with streams of blood.
GOOOOOOOOOOOH!
And the serpent’s scream. I rose carefully, making sure none of the blood got into my wounds, eyes, or mouth, then sprinted down the corridor. It was the long hallway that ran from the main entrance on the first floor all the way to the stairs. At the end was a storage room. Probably the same one where the choir bastards had found their weapons.
I stopped there for a moment to catch my breath.
“Ha… Fuck. That crazy bastard is actually insane…”
The serpent was behind me. There was no escape route. It had completely blocked the only passageway. It seemed to know that too. The Serpent of Eden no longer pursued. It simply stopped and watched me with its countless eyes.
At first glance, it looked like an absolutely hopeless situation. After a fierce battle, I had realized I couldn’t win and fled. Even while running I had resisted and done everything possible, yet it still felt impossible to defeat.
Some of that was true. From the beginning, I had never been its match. To win a one-on-one fight against that thing, I would have needed to bring the Avengers. At the very least, it wasn’t something I should face alone. I knew it. The serpent knew it. Even Kang Ahyeon probably knew it.
Even so.
“Just as planned…”
I sheathed my sword and smiled. The serpent stared at me blankly. Instead of the backpack I had been carrying the whole time, I picked up the one I had left on the floor earlier. I took something out and closed it.
The serpent surely knew what a bag bomb was. There was no way it didn’t. If the cult leader had drawn it while alive, it definitely knew. Even if it had drawn it after death, if even one of the devoured believers had seen it, the serpent would know. That this was a bomb.
Otherwise its initial aggressive attitude followed by strangely passive, probing attacks wouldn’t make sense. Fortunately, my hypothesis had been correct. The creature knew getting too close to this was extremely dangerous.
I began spinning the tightly sealed bag. The long strap existed precisely for throwing bag bombs. My 18 Strength made spinning it easy. As the strap whirled with a whooshing sound, I twisted my whole body and hurled the bag.
The serpent responded. It didn’t open its mouth. Instead, as if it knew exactly what was inside, it swung its head and slapped the bag away. It had no idea that was a mistake.
CRASH!
Liquid spilled out. The sound of shattering glass bottles. The serpent froze. The smell of the scattered liquid filled my nose, then the entire space. I knew exactly what it was. Oil and alcohol. The high-proof liquor the cult leader had treasured and the generator fuel he had stored separately in empty bottles. Both were highly flammable.
And right on cue, I was holding one of the items I had placed in that bag.
Fwoosh!
The instant I lit the lighter, the wick caught fire. An object I had only seen in games and read about in history books illuminated the darkness.
“Let there be light.”
A Molotov cocktail left my hand. It flew straight at the serpent. I didn’t even hear the glass break. All I heard was the sound of oil igniting. The wind blew.
FWOOSH—KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
The Molotov exploded, and the serpent let out a scream of pure agony.