Floor 7 — The Eerie Forest and the Mad Tiger-Men (3)
The moment I kicked off from my spot and bolted, the rest of the party threw themselves into the fight as well.
It was a chaotic melee, with Tiger-Men charging in from every direction.
"Geongon Nanmu!"
The old man roared and swung his sword in a diagonal arc.
I had no idea why slicing diagonally counted as 'nanmu,' but even worn out as he was, there was something almost gleeful about the way he shouted his skill name.
Even with the King of the Tiger-Men making his appearance, his face showed not a trace of worry.
How could anyone look that cheerful in a situation like this?
Hmm……
So when I told them the Tiger King might actually be stronger than me, it just didn't register at all, huh?
Does he assume that because he trusts my strength, I'll obviously beat the Tiger King?
……Honestly, that's probably exactly it.
I'd thought the same thing myself, so it stood to reason my party members would too.
After all, they'd seen me take down the Seraph Queen, and they'd watched me absolutely run rampant through three hours of pursuit.
When I glanced around, Seo Harin and Kkal didn't look particularly worried either.
And yet, even while thinking that, they'd complained not once during those three hours of running……
Gratitude toward my party members welled up in me all over again.
It had been a grueling chase. They could have said, 'Suhyeok, just kill them all and grab the King.'
Was it simply because I was the party leader?
Or had they all come to the same realization I had — that leaning entirely on my strength would do nothing good for their own growth?
Thinking about it cynically,
they might have just been sucking up to the two leaders — me and Ha Heijeong — hoping to ride our coattails.
I don't know. Better not to dwell on it.
Humans are animals of composite thought. Plenty of reasons probably braid together every time they follow my lead.
But in the short time I'd known them, the people in this party had never once seemed like bad people.
"KRAHAHAANG—!"
Once again, the Tiger King's roar ripped through the forest.
The distance had closed dramatically.
When I'd first heard that roar, the source had clearly been far away — and now, somehow, it was practically upon us.
Already? Fast bastard, isn't he.
"Grrrl—"
The moment the Tiger King's roar rang out, the charging Tiger-Men withdrew in a rush, letting loose low whines.
We needed to get ready too.
"This way! Let's reform ranks!"
Using that lull, I reassembled our formation, scattered and tangled from the melee.
The old man swallowed hard, sidled up beside me, and raised his shield.
He'd been all smiles a minute ago……
But the way he swallowed told me that the moment the Tiger King appeared, even he had started feeling the tension.
"Krahaang!"
Now the Tiger King's roar was close enough to shake my bones.
Fsss-shhh — leaves and branches rustled and snapped as something came crashing through.
"Grrr—"
The Tiger-Men surrounding us all turned their heads toward the sound.
They hunched low, rumbling deep in their chests.
Reverence for their king.
Through the bowing Tiger-Men, a King well over three meters tall revealed himself.
Thick, luxurious orange fur, riotously patterned with black stripes. The claws on his massive hands looked a good thirty centimeters longer than any of the other Tiger-Men's.
"Grrrrr."
Between his half-open jaws, fangs jutted out sharp as blades.
Drool dripped down from beneath them, falling in a steady trickle.
He looked more human than the other Tiger-Men — and at the same time, more tiger-like.
That two-sided appearance was deeply uncanny.
The Tiger King's rust-red eyes swept slowly over our party.
And then, as if he'd figured out that I was the one leading them, he met my gaze directly.
"Human… human……"
None of the other Tiger-Men had spoken.
In three hours, I hadn't seen a single one say a word.
Apart from how they looked, they were nothing but tigers.
The System had called them mad, deranged Tiger-Men — I'd simply assumed that was why they couldn't speak.
But apparently a so-called King still knew how to talk.
"Human… human……"
The Tiger King didn't charge. He just stood there, staring at us, his half-lucid eyes rolling violently.
Like something holding itself back. Waiting.
The King of the Tiger-Men has appeared. You must either slay the King, or offer a sacrifice great enough to satisfy him.
Right. So it was waiting for a sacrifice.
A sacrifice great enough to satisfy it.
But if we did have to offer one — how much would it take?
Out of nowhere, that phrase — a sacrifice great enough to satisfy him — lodged itself in my brain like a splinter.
In the Waiting Room, the Tower had capped party size at six.
And six Tiger-Men dead was when the King appeared.
The same number — six. So how many would a satisfying sacrifice be?
The number six could mean nothing at all……
No. Why am I obsessing over this?
A flicker of doubt crossed my mind, but I decided to stop thinking about it.
What did it matter how many of us it took to satisfy the Tiger King?
"We won't be offering any sacrifices."
Because I had no intention of giving it one.
Those words acted like a spark, and in an instant, the light in the Tiger King's eyes transformed.
"KRAHAHAANG!"
With a low, guttural roar, the Tiger King kicked off the ground and came charging.
At the same instant, the Tiger-Men surrounding us hurled themselves at us as well.
I kicked off the ground and ran.
Faster. Faster still. I had to close the distance the Tiger King was cutting down as much as possible.
I had to draw the Tiger King away from my party.
Other Tiger-Men were swarming in too.
In a melee this tangled, I couldn't guarantee the King would come after me alone.
My party could get hurt.
He could slam into one of them at any moment, from right beside me.
And then I wouldn't be able to protect them perfectly.
Better to burrow into the thick of the Tiger-Men myself than to stand shoulder to shoulder with my party and fight the King in the middle of a chaos of bodies.
The others weren't ready to face the Tiger King yet.
The charging Tiger King leapt.
His legs were thicker than the other Tiger-Men's, and his leaps came faster and higher for it.
"KRAANG!"
In a one-on-one, I would have dodged — but I raised my shield instead.
If I dodged, he could sail straight past me and crash into my party.
Just before the Tiger King's hand — bigger than my whole face — smashed into my shield, I wreathed it in lightning.
WHAM— A dull, crushing impact, then graaak— as his claws raked across the shield.
At the same moment, the Tiger King flinched.
……But the lightning's effect was far weaker than I'd expected.
Was that because his hide was even thicker than the other Tiger-Men's?
Seizing the instant of his flinch, I swung my mace.
The Tiger King shoved down hard against the hand he'd slammed into my shield, roughly wrenching his torso aside.
My mace skimmed through his fur and passed clean by.
So he dodged my attack…… but honestly? He didn't feel stronger than the Seraph Queen. That was just the suppleness of a tiger producing a dodge.
How could the Floor 7 boss be weaker than the Floor 6 boss?
"KRAANG!"
The Tiger King fell back, then came barreling in again.
One step to the right, and I swung my mace in a horizontal arc.
His claws raked through the spot I'd just vacated a beat too late, his hand slicing empty air.
Instead, my mace came down hard on the Tiger King's flank.
"Kyaang!"
Crack — the sickening sound of lower ribs breaking sent a shiver up my spine.
Struck by the mace, the Tiger King was flung backward and tumbled across the ground.
He rolled four times, then kicked off the earth and rose, clutching his smashed left side with one arm.
And then — he looked at me, almost cautiously.
Not glaring. Cautiously.
The Tiger King's eyes trembled violently.
What the hell? Don't tell me……
Did he seriously just get scared off after taking one hit?
"Ha."
A hollow laugh slipped out of me despite myself.
It was absurd.
Forget the fact that a Floor 7 boss was weaker than a Floor 6 boss.
Since when did a boss size up a climber like this?
The Tiger King stared at me like a beaten dog after a beating on its own kill day, tail shriveled and drooping toward the ground.
"…Hey. What are you doing?"
No answer. Not that I was expecting one.
Aside from the word 'human,' he was a dead ringer for every other deranged Tiger-Men out there.
Whatever. Let's just finish this.
Even now, my party was still fighting the rest of the Tiger-Men.
The moment I took a single step forward with that thought, the Tiger King suddenly bolted — straight toward my party.
……You son of a—!
I should've just charged in and beaten him down from the start!
I sprinted after the Tiger King, a beat too late.
It already felt like I'd lost ground, but I couldn't just stand there.
Damn it — Ha Heijeong had just launched a fireball.
Worse, she'd been holding down an entire sector on her own, putting her the farthest from the Tiger King of anyone in the party.
First things first — call for the old man.
"Geongon! Dae-nai!"
"Old man!"
Shouting 'Geongon!' at his shield while crying 'Dae-nai!' with his swinging sword, the old man whipped his head around at my yell.
At that same instant, Ha Heijeong raised a wall of flame in front of the Tiger King.
But even facing a wall of fire over three meters tall, the Tiger King didn't change course.
Without a shred of hesitation, he coiled his hind legs and leapt.
And in the path of that leap…… was Seo Harin.
Damn it! If it were the old man, at least he could've blocked with his shield……
The Tiger King hurled his body into the wall of fire, and his fur caught alight.
Yet he ignored the flames completely and lunged for Seo Harin.
"Ah……"
Panicked, Seo Harin stood rooted to the spot, her pupils trembling violently.
But just before the Tiger King could pounce on her —
"Harin!"
The old man threw himself forward.
He'd tossed his sword God-knew-where, and with the empty right hand that had held it, he shoved Seo Harin out of the way.
Having lost his balance sprinting in, he belatedly hauled up his shield.
But the Tiger King was a beat faster.
"KRAANG!"
"AAAAARGH—!"
The burning Tiger King crashed down on the old man. At the same moment, the flames vanished.
Hearing that the fire might hurt him, Ha Heijeong had dispelled it immediately.
"Ughk!"
Unable to bear the weight, the old man toppled backward.
The Tiger King settled on top of him and thrust its jaws forward, going for the nape of his neck.
The old man thrashed desperately and barely twisted away —
but instead, he gave up his shoulder.
"GYAAAAH!"
Thunk. An arrow Kkal had loosed slammed into the Tiger King's back. A heartbeat later, I finally arrived and swung my mace.
CRUNCH! With the sound of a skull caving in, the back of the Tiger King's head shattered.
The impact sent him collapsing onto the old man, jaws still hanging open.
The Tiger King's blood came gushing, wave after wave, into the old man's screaming mouth.
"Guhk! Ghhk—!"
I shoved the Tiger King's carcass aside as fast as I could, and the old man coughed violently, swallowing half the blood and spitting up the other half.
Seo Harin came running and threw her arms around him.
"Dad! Heal Injury!"
Brilliant light poured down over the old man's shoulder.
The wound slowly closed, and he managed to push his upper body upright.
You have slain the King of the Tiger-Men. Time remaining: 2 hours 09 minutes
With the notification, the Tiger-Men who had lost their king began to scatter, darting away without direction.
"Dad! Are you okay!?"
"Whew… whew. I'm fine. Well, that's that, then — haha."
The old man gave an embarrassed little laugh, as if to say it was nothing — even with his face smeared head to toe in blood.
He was trying to put us at ease. ……So this is what experience looks like?
While I was still marveling at him, Seo Harin flung herself into his arms.
"Daddy…!"
"Haha, I told you I'm fine. I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."
With a warm expression, the old man gently smoothed down his daughter's hair.
What a relief. That Seo Harin hadn't died — and that the old man hadn't been badly hurt.
If he hadn't blocked, Seo Harin would be dead.
In the middle of my relief, another notification window floated up.
You have slain the King of the Tiger-Men. 2,000 achievement points have been awarded.
Huh? What? Why the old man?
……Damn it, what is this?
[Hidden Message: 1st-Class Sinjwa 'Noebu, Lord of Sucheo' wishes to sponsor Jung Hwa-je.]
[Hidden Message: Sponsorship is not currently permitted. Under 'Pre-Sponsorship' rules, the climber will bear an additional Shareholder Ratio, and the sponsoring Sinjwa will bear ■■■.]