Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Rene
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I checked my Shards.
I checked my gear.
I tossed aside the weights.
And now, I stood at the entrance to the boss room of the Beast Dungeon.
It might be a reckless impulse.
No, it probably was.
The thought hit me the moment I looked down at my battered sword.
‘This thing’s pretty sturdy.’
Even after six years of constant swinging that dulled its edge and wore down the hilt, the blade was holding up better than expected.
If a mindless lump of metal could endure this much, why had I been the one setting limits and giving up first?
I knew every pattern of Barhatan’s attacks.
I’d run countless simulations in my head on how to fight it.
So what had I been so afraid of?
The pain? Or death?
If I’d feared death, I should’ve ended it myself the day I fell into this world.
But I hadn’t.
So what choice did I have?
“I have to give it a shot.”
I opened the door without hesitation.
A chilling wave of mana poured out from the boss room, plunging the entire dungeon into darkness.
What emerged was a blackened ruin. A crumbling temple surrounded by cracked pillars.
From the gaps between the pillars, eight wolf beasts leaped out in unison.
Flash.
Eight flashes of light, and the beasts collapsed.
I stood in my usual prayer pose.
This time, I prayed with true sincerity.
As if answering my prayer, an unfamiliar mana emanated from the temple’s center.
Narrowing my eyes, I saw a massive figure sitting cross-legged.
Prominent back muscles like a human’s, visible beneath its bluish fur.
In its right hand, a mace as huge as its own body.
Yes. It matched the one in my memory.
Thud. Thud.
It slowly rose from its seat.
It turned its head and looked at me.
A bull-like head, a grotesque horn protruding from the center of its forehead, and above all, the bluish flames burning in its eyes.
The boss of the Beast Dungeon. The first boss.
Barhatan.
Kuuuoooo—!
It charged straight at me.
The closer it got, the more its enormous size sank in.
Its body was at least three times larger than mine.
Yet its movements were twice as agile as any human’s.
I raised my lowered sword and aimed it at the beast.
My turn.
A blue gem appeared above its head, and its charge halted dead.
Unlike Shukarit, Barhatan was a textbook power type.
Each blow was devastating, so the standard strategy was evasion over risky parries.
But I couldn’t evade.
Nor did I plan to take clean hits and die.
Maybe it was all those years of turn-based battles, but I’d picked up a few things.
I shifted my foot.
Positioning my shoulder just barely in the path of its charge.
The tactic I’d honed over three years.
‘Take the hit with less pain.’
It might sound pathetic, but for me, it was a matter of survival.
If evasion was impossible, then take the hit—but make it hurt as little as possible.
I’d learned through three years exactly where to take hits that my body could endure.
A tactic useless against humans.
But it would work against beasts.
I thrust the sword tip straight into its snout.
Corner Slash. Followed by Flashback.
[Weak!]
The sudden impact snapped Barhatan’s head back.
But the blue gem vanished, replaced by a red one above its head.
Barhatan’s turn.
Even after taking a direct hit to the skull, it ignored the pain and charged.
Kwachik!
One strike tore through my breastplate, launching my body into the air. But that was fine.
‘Right on plan.’
An attack that should’ve pulverized every bone if taken head-on had only shattered my breastplate. That counted as a success.
“Cough! Cough!”
Of course, it hurt just as much.
Blood welled at my lips, dry coughs erupting.
Shiiiiiik…
Barhatan recovered its stance after landing the hit, then swung its massive mace toward me.
A blue gem reappeared above my head.
My turn.
Every breath made my ribs throb.
Yet my body moved.
My options against Barhatan were limited anyway.
So I focused solely on its movements.
A direct mace strike to the head meant instant death.
I lowered my stance.
Hugging the ground, waiting for its attack.
This turn’s burden: the mace’s shockwave.
An attack I’d normally dodge without question.
But now, I was deliberately stepping into its range to take it with less pain.
Pathetic.
[Weak!]
I slashed my sword upward, jamming Flashback into its jaw.
The hit flung its head back, staggering its upper body.
Barhatan’s turn.
But the power in its arm didn’t weaken.
The mace plummeted toward the ground immediately.
Kwaang!
The shockwave shook my body, stone shards from the floor lacerating my skin.
Kwaduduk!
‘Shit.’
It lifted a leg.
One of Barhatan’s four attack patterns.
A close-range kick to send foes flying.
This one I could take.
It wasn’t a heavy hitter.
This was the turning point.
My turn.
This time, I drove Corner Slash into its chest.
[Weak!]
I withdrew the sword and stepped back.
Leaving a wound while creating distance.
Prep for the break.
If its pattern continued to the kick, I’d endure it, then drive a break into its weak point right after and finish it.
Barhatan’s turn.
It kicked out with the raised leg.
Ppeong!
My body flew back, rolling across the floor.
Even as I was flung, my mind stayed cold.
‘Good. That’s enough. I’ll end it next turn.’
That instant.
Kuererer—!!
A bestial roar echoed through the temple.
Ears ringing from the sheer volume.
‘What? Didn’t the kick end its turn?’
My hands froze mid-recovery.
No—not froze. I couldn’t move.
I looked up.
No blue gem. The red one still blinked above Barhatan’s head.
‘No Weak!. How is it still moving?’
Bug? Phase 2?
I racked my brain, eyes locked on the approaching beast.
Barhatan definitely had four patterns.
Charge, mace swing, kick. And ultimate.
Nothing like this.
‘No way…’
I remembered.
In the game, after kicking the player away, it would roar.
The player couldn’t move, and Barhatan didn’t attack.
I’d dismissed it as cutscene flair.
But this was reality, not a game. A game cutscene had turned into an attack.
Instinctual fear from a predator’s roar.
The Fear status effect that sometimes appeared in games.
That’s what had me now.
The red gem above its head made sense.
Its turn hadn’t ended. My turn had come and gone, returning to its turn.
‘So that’s what this was…’
Barhatan’s turn.
‘Fuck.’
Kreurur…
It shrugged its massive shoulders.
I knew that stance.
Prelude to Barhatan’s ultimate: Spinning Strike.
Spinning Strike had it whirl like a tornado, lashing out with the mace in rapid succession.
Even at full health, five hits meant certain death.
To escape, you had to slip through the split-second gaps between swings with an evade.
But I couldn’t move now.
My mind screamed.
‘Now! Roll at that timing!’
My body wouldn’t obey.
The dance of death began.
Kwaang!!
The first blow dug into my side.
I felt my organs tear beyond the ribs, crystal clear.
Kwachik!!
The second crashed onto my shoulder.
My armor shattered completely, collarbone snapping.
Thud! Bang! Kwaang!!
Each rotation hammered the mace into me mercilessly.
“…Keurk!”
My vision stained red, consciousness fading.
But my turn never came.
Its turn hadn’t ended.
Instinct told me: the turn I’d just wasted was my last.
Even as death closed in, my mind stayed sharp.
The pain was more bearable than expected.
The chimera hurt more. Shukarit stung worse.
Elite kobolds and the stone treant had hurt more than this.
So a thought crossed my mind.
‘Death’s surprisingly merciful.’
Thanks to that, even as awareness dimmed, I could sort my thoughts.
Shouldn’t have tanked the kick. If I’d known about this pattern, better to break the turn even if it hurt more.
Should’ve stocked more yellow Shards. Might’ve survived the Spinning Strike.
Did I show off too much? Should’ve started with a break?
‘If I’d had just a few more turns… I could’ve done better.’
Or like this.
That might’ve worked too.
Would that have been better?
Should I not have come alone after all?
Better to leave it to the protagonists.
Regrets poured like a waterfall.
Meanwhile, the spin reached max speed. Its final blow readied.
The mace soared sky-high.
Kwaaaang!!
It plunged straight down.
My body merged with the floor in a crunch, the sword in my hand shattering to pieces.
‘Yeah. You held out long too.’
The Abyss Core rolled from my pocket.
Had to return it to Cecilia.
‘…Whatever. Too late now.’
Consciousness sank into the abyss, death’s chill embracing my body.
The blue gem I’d failed to claim flickered before my eyes.
Ah, shit. Come to think of it, the Lizardman Dungeon boss had a similar pattern.
Underprepared in the end. A little more thoroughness, and it wouldn’t have ended so pointlessly.
In my mindscape, blue gems began floating one by one.
As if forged from my desires and regrets.
The gems merged, forming a small altar-like space.
At its center sat a golden-haired girl in a black veil and dress.
Ill-matching her dark attire, brilliant white wings adorned her back.
But what seized my gaze most were her eyes, gleaming with the exact blue I’d craved.
『So it ends here after all? What a shame.』
…Who are you?
『You know, don’t you? A turn is just another name for opportunity.』
…Who are you?
『Opportunities are never infinite. The moment you exhaust all yours, you lose the possibility called opportunity.』
I couldn’t argue.
I knew it better than anyone.
『Though rarely, variables that rewind opportunities can arise.』
The girl’s gaze drifted slightly downward.
『Like right now.』
There lay my shattered sword and the carelessly scattered Abyss Core.
She rose, picked up the Abyss Core.
『But that depends entirely on your desire.』
She stared at it for a long while.
『Well then, shall we see? Just how strong your desire is?』
She extended her hand, and three blue gems floated up.
『Oh my. Three of them? You’re quite greedy, aren’t you?』
…Greedy? What does that mean?
『But remember this. More opportunities mean proportionally more suffering. You’ll go through this exact ordeal three more times. Can you endure it?』
She turned to look at me.
『If you still want a new opportunity, call my name.』
My mouth moved on its own.
“…Rene.”
The moment I spoke her name, the blue gems erupted in radiant light.
The light swirled around me, reviving my shattered senses one by one.
Fading consciousness reignited.
[Abyss Core - Rene]
[Unique Ability Unlock Condition Met: Death 1 / 1]
[Unique Ability unlocked.]
『May your choice be blessed with the grace of time.』
[Unique Ability - Action Rewind 1 / 3]
[※Unique Ability usable only in boss fights.]