The Miracle of a Lowly Soldier
The raid felt like getting slammed head-on by a speeding dump truck. Kwaaaang—! Only after Tae-oh’s body smashed into a massive tree trunk did he finally crash to the ground.
“Kuhuk…!!”
The tree slammed into his back, forcing out a cough mixed with blood. Dizzying pain surged through his entire body.
“Captain!!”
Kyle’s scream echoed from far away, but Tae-oh had no time to answer. He rolled across the ground and barely managed to lift his head. His back throbbed like hell, but fortunately nothing seemed broken.
“Grrrrrrrr……”
A black wolf the size of a house. A war wolf. With a single swing of its front paw, the beast had sent him flying, then stood there leisurely baring its fangs. Thick drool dripped from its jaws, creating an atmosphere of pure terror.
‘Tsk. They really weren’t kidding when they said size is everything.’
And in Tae-oh’s eyes, the clear heart shape floating above it. If he killed this thing, he could instantly fill four hearts.
But the confidence he’d built from reading an assassin’s sword path and slaughtering elite imperial soldiers shattered in an instant. No matter how clearly he could see the creature’s muscle movements in slow motion, the sheer physical force behind over five hundred kilograms of mass was far beyond anything he could handle.
‘I absolutely cannot block or take a hit. I have to dodge.’
Even a graze would be fatal. A direct blow would mean instant death. This wasn’t a game. There was no health bar slowly ticking down—his actual body would be torn apart for real.
Yet the veteran gamer instincts engraved in Tae-oh’s brain shone even brighter in the face of crisis.
‘It’s not like there’s no way at all.’
A situation where a lone damage dealer had to face a raid boss without a tank. The only answer was to squeeze every last drop out of the terrain and items.
“Kwaaaaaang!!”
The beast leaped again. Its speed as it charged with jaws wide open was terrifyingly fast for its massive size.
Instead of standing, Tae-oh rolled across the ground and pulled two glass bottles from his pocket, smashing them down hard.
Clink—!
Hssssssss—!
Purple smoke and yellow tear gas erupted at the same time.
“Kyaaang!!”
With its vision blocked and its nose and eyes burning from the acrid stench, the war wolf panicked and swung its front paws wildly through the air.
Tae-oh used that opening to slip behind a tree, then pulled out a Potion of Vitality and a Potion of Swiftness from his belt and chugged them both in one go. The creature’s speed far surpassed a human’s, so he needed at least enough mobility to run away.
The potions that slid down his throat burned like fire, forcibly pumping strength into his muscles.
“Rolls! Take the squad and keep those imperial bastards in check! I’m dragging this fucker deeper into the forest!”
The moment Tae-oh shouted, Rolls’ rough cursing came from beyond the smoke.
“You crazy bastard! How the hell are you gonna fight that thing alone?!”
“Just shut up and smash their heads in while I hold aggro! Don’t worry about me!”
The second he finished speaking, Tae-oh snatched up a rock rolling on the ground and hurled it straight at the war wolf’s head.
Thwack—!
“Grrrrr!!”
A beast’s instincts were simple and cruel. When something invisible dealt it direct damage, all its hostility would naturally focus on that target. The war wolf’s blood-red eyes pierced through the smoke and locked onto Tae-oh.
‘Good. Aggro’s fixed on me.’
Tae-oh began running toward the deepest part of the forest, where the trees grew so thick that movement would be difficult. The war wolf snarled and gave chase.
Crunch—! Crack—!
The beast had no intention of avoiding obstacles. Branches and thin tree trunks in its path snapped like toothpicks under its mindless charge. The sounds of destruction coming from behind sent chills down Tae-oh’s spine, but he wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned.
‘Its straight-line speed is fast, but cornering is sluggish.’
The bigger and heavier something was, the more it suffered from the laws of inertia. Tae-oh zigzagged between thick ancient trees, deliberately twisting the creature’s charging path.
“Kwaang!”
Unable to turn sharply enough, the war wolf’s shoulder slammed into a massive old tree. The entire trunk shook, raining leaves like a storm.
In that brief moment the beast faltered, Tae-oh kicked off a tree trunk and twisted his body in mid-air. In his hand were already three paralysis needles.
Whoosh—! Thud—! Thud—!
The needles left his hand and sank precisely into the beast’s nape and shoulder. But—
“Fuck, how thick is its hide?!”
The paralysis-coated needles bounced off without piercing the tough muscle layer. It was a lethal poison, but if it couldn’t break the skin, it was useless. Instead, the stinging irritation completely drove the war wolf into a frenzy. It bared blood-stained fangs and lunged at where Tae-oh had landed.
‘If it bites me, it’s over.’
The instant he landed, Tae-oh pulled a bundle of caltrops from his belt and scattered them across the ground.
Clatter—!
He had secretly made them at the workshop to use during night battles and to block escape routes. The moment the beast stepped down to pounce on him—
“Kyaaaaang!”
A sharp animal scream rang through the forest. Dozens of iron spikes had driven deep into the soft jelly of its paw pads.
Weighing five hundred kilograms meant the pressure on its soles was equally murderous. No matter how thick its hide, its weight-bearing paws couldn’t be invincible.
Blood gushed from its front paw like a fountain as the war wolf thrashed on the ground.
‘Now’s my chance!’
Without hesitation, Tae-oh gripped his sword and charged straight for its eye. But the monster’s vitality was beyond imagination. Even with its paws pierced, it instinctively twisted its head and caught his blade with its jaw.
Clang—!
Once again, that horrifying recoil. Tae-oh’s sword bounced off the creature’s jawbone. Using that momentum, the beast swung its remaining front paw and kicked him square in the stomach.
“Kuhuk!”
Tae-oh flew through the air for the second time. This time he rolled across the ground to disperse the impact, but the twisting pain in his guts made him retch.
“Huk, huk… You son of a bitch really doesn’t die easy.”
Tae-oh forced strength into his trembling legs and barely stood. The war wolf, limping on its injured paw, was also rising again. Its eyes no longer held any interest in prey—only clear murderous intent to rip apart the insect that had wounded it.
‘Normal slashes or strikes won’t deal any damage. I have to hit its weak points precisely.’
Tae-oh quickly scanned the surrounding terrain. The place he had lured it to was near the deepest ravine in Sector 7’s forest. Behind him was a near-vertical slope, and below it lay a valley floor bristling with sharp rocks.
A scenario instantly formed in his mind. When you played enough games, just looking at the terrain was enough to spark strategies like this.
He pulled out every remaining item he had. A pouch filled with explosive flame powder and his last tear gas grenade.
“Alright, phase two begins, you fucking mutt.”
Tae-oh provocatively slapped the flat of his blade against his palm. The war wolf dragged its limp paw and charged once more. Its speed had dropped noticeably, but the oppressive weight behind it remained unchanged.
This time, Tae-oh didn’t dodge. Instead, he let it close the distance until its jaws were about to swallow him whole. The beast’s rotten breath washed over his face. The instant it opened its maw to bite his upper body—
Tae-oh shoved the pouch of flame powder straight into its mouth and slid across the ground.
“Eat this!”
As he rolled, he scraped the tip of his sword against a stone on the ground, creating a fierce spark. The moment that flame touched the floating remnants of the powder—
Boooom—!!
“Kyaaaaaaaang!!”
A horrific explosion erupted inside the war wolf’s mouth. Its hide might be as tough as steel, but the mucous membranes and esophagus inside weren’t invincible. Flames scorched its airway, sending smoke pouring from its nose and mouth.
Completely insane from the agony, the beast began leaping wildly in place, snapping its jaws at everything around it.
Tae-oh crawled through the chaos, preparing the final blow. The creature’s position was exactly at the edge of the slope. But its instinctive sense of balance kept it from falling easily.
‘Completely block its vision and destroy its balance.’
Tae-oh stood and slipped into the beast’s blind spot from behind. Then he hurled the tear gas bottle straight into its eyes.
Crash—!
“Kyaaaang!!”
The glass shattered, and the potent gas struck the creature’s eye membranes directly. Completely blinded and in searing pain, the war wolf reared up on its hind legs and howled.
In that instant, its center of gravity shifted backward.
Tae-oh didn’t miss the fleeting opportunity. He squeezed out every last ounce of strength, launched himself forward, and executed a sliding tackle at the joint of the hind leg that was supporting its weight.
Crack—!
The hind leg, already mangled by the caltrops, snapped under his strike. The only support holding the beast at the edge of the slope collapsed.
The five-hundred-kilogram monster flailed helplessly in the air before plummeting down the sheer cliff with a bloodcurdling scream.
Rumble—!! Crunch—!
The sickening sound of bones shattering and flesh being pulverized rose from the valley floor.
Tae-oh gasped for breath as he lay at the edge of the slope, looking down. The massive monster’s corpse lay impaled on sharp rocks, chest and stomach pierced, vomiting dark red blood. It convulsed a few times before finally going still.
You have hunted a monster.
The status window has been updated.
Remaining opportunities: ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎
“Haa… haa… Fuck. I got it.”
Tae-oh buried his face—covered in blood and dirt—into the ground and let out a manic laugh. It was a miraculous victory achieved by a mere conscript with no levels or aura, pushing the advantages of terrain and items to their absolute limits.
He barely managed to roll over and stare up at the sky. Every muscle in his body was screaming, and even breathing hurt like hell, but his mood was at an all-time high.
He felt a little more confident now. No matter how overwhelmingly large the monster was, if he prepared thoroughly, he could still tear it apart using his knowledge and desperate struggle.
From far away came the screams of imperial soldiers and the clash of weapons. The imperial troops who had watched their prized monster fall off a cliff with that horrible scream must have already hit rock bottom in morale.
“I bet Rolls is holding out without letting any of the kids die, right?”
Tae-oh used his blood-stained sword as a cane and forced himself to his feet. The potion’s effects were starting to wear off, but he couldn’t collapse yet. He had taken the boss’s head. Now it was time to clean up the small fry and collect the loot.