Chapter 13

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 13

Chapter Title: Ogre ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Queen

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Ku-gu-gu-gu kung—!

Kung, peong!

Pukeok, peobeobeobeok, puk-puk!

"This is... too... tough... huff... haa."

For some reason, Leap wasn't working at all this time.

She had no choice but to keep her distance from the swarming Ironclad Mercenaries and take them out one by one.

Fortunately, the Ironclad Mercenaries were numerous but didn't hit very hard.

The biggest problem was that she was getting more and more exhausted as time passed.

"Yeah, I can really feel the strength draining from my body. It's almost like the gate is training me."

"It said if I fail, I have to start over from the beginning. If I have to do that when I'm this exhausted, I might not make it."

Lee Ru-ri picked up her pace.

As she kept an eye on her mana and spammed skills, she suddenly noticed something odd.

"Is it because my max mana has increased? Even after using skills non-stop, it fills right back up. Does that mean I can just spam them without holding back?"

To confirm, she needed to go all out with her skills.

Ignoring the sensation of her mana dipping, she fired off a decently sized Extinction.

It didn't feel lacking at all—more than she'd expected—so she made the next one a bit bigger.

Sure enough, her mana refilled almost instantly.

"Haa."

She collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion and was about to check her status window when an emergency alarm blared, and an unfamiliar message appeared at the top of her status window.

"What the hell is this? Boss Gate? So this wasn't just another training gate like before."

She had spent nearly all the time required to meet the gate clear condition before she could move on to the next one.

That meant she'd been stuck here for at least fifteen hours.

The first boss-level monster she'd encountered was the SS-rank Keres.

Before facing Keres, there had been the S-rank Red Drake as the gatekeeper.

Of course, she'd met both in an S-rank gate.

This place was currently ramped up to D-rank difficulty.

If her guess was right, the boss-level monster here couldn't be higher than D-rank, no matter what.

"The only D-rank I've ever faced was an Ogre..."

Ogres—she'd run into them twice.

"The problem is that favor doesn't apply here."

But she didn't have time to keep agonizing over it.

The electronic display above the newly formed Boss Gate entrance showed less than a minute remaining.

Lee Ru-ri gripped her sword and cube tightly and strode into the gate entrance.

Hwaruruk.

The dark gate lit up in an instant from torches flaring to life along the walls. The interior walls of the Boss Gate looked like shattered mirrors.

Every step Lee Ru-ri took was reflected back at her amid the blazing torches flickering here and there.

Torches ahead ignited one by one as she walked faster.

How far had she gone when a familiar sound reached her ears?

Dorureureu.

Tak!

'That's the sound the baby Ogres made rolling stones around?'

She quickened her pace a bit.

—Uwaaah!

Dorureureu.

Tak!

There, just like before, two baby Ogres were rolling stones around, playing.

'Even babies—can't underestimate their attack power. Guess calling it a Boss Gate wasn't hype after all. I can handle baby Ogres...'

The moment she let her guard down and mentally patted herself on the back.

The hairs on her body stood on end as an overwhelming pressure enveloped her.

Kkiiik.

From the thick darkness, the sound of someone rising from an old chair.

Kung, kung, kung.

Kwak!

"Oh, crap."

A thunderous crash from an enormous club slamming into the ground.

Emerging from the darkness was an Ogre far larger than any she'd faced before—impossible to compare.

The massive Ogre glared fiercely at Lee Ru-ri.

'But... did Ogres always have hair...?'

The Ogre, clutching its club and staring her down, had curly locks cascading to its waist.

'Ah, crap, don't laugh. It looks like a wig.'

—Uwaaah!

While she hesitated, lost in thought for a moment, the baby Ogres charged toward the massive Ogre.

The huge Ogre scooped up the two babies with powerful arms.

Then it retreated back into the darkness.

Consecutive thuds echoed from the darkness as it placed the babies down on the chair it had been sitting in.

Kung, kung, kung.

Kwak!

The massive Ogre stepped out from the darkness again, leaning cockeyed on its club with its full body weight.

It seemed to be waiting for Lee Ru-ri's attack.

'No choice. Gotta give it a shot.'

With resolve, she cautiously extended her hand, and information on the Ogre popped up in her status window.

'Being able to raise favor is good news, but popping out an A-rank monster like this out of nowhere? That's crossing the line.'

The crushing pressure surrounding her said it all.

The Ogre before her was nothing like the lesser monsters she'd faced so far.

'Let's do this for real. Superhuman Strength first.'

As she invoked the skill, a calm energy enveloped her entire body.

'Wonder if Leap works here too.'

She leaped into the air, but it was useless.

Staying focused on her breathing, she fired a moderate-sized Extinction at the glaring Ogre.

Unexpectedly, the Ogre Queen's HP gauge activated in her status window.

"It even shows the monster's HP gauge now? But that number is insane. 1 million... I'm gonna die first."

As she assumed a stance to launch a full assault, the Ogre Queen, caught off-guard by the Extinction, raised its club to counterattack.

The Ogre Queen's power was tremendous. Even the shockwaves from its swings pushed her back bit by bit.

'One hit and I'm done for.'

She kept her distance from the Ogre Queen as best she could while firing Extinctions, pondering which skill would suit this situation better.

She didn't forget to check the remaining time on her Superhuman Strength buff.

By the third buff activation, the Ogre Queen's HP had dropped to 89%.

Roughly 10% every 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, Lee Ru-ri was still full of energy. Thanks to her sword and cube, her HP never dipped into dangerous territory.

She should've been utterly drained after holding out so long, but instead, she felt more energized than ever.

If she could maintain this state while attacking the Ogre, victory was within reach.

Just as she focused her mind again, the Ogre Queen raised its club skyward.

—Uwaaaaaah!

The Ogre Queen bellowed as if to shred her eardrums.

Pajijik.

'What was that sound?'

Kung, ku-gung.

Kung, ku-gung!

—Keuaaaaaah!

Two Ogres the size of the ones she'd fought twice before burst from the darkness, howling.

'No way—those babies from earlier grew that much...'

The thought barely crossed her mind when the two Ogres hurled something with tremendous force.

She dodged on instinct, and a crash echoed from the mirror-like gate walls as shards rained down sharply onto the floor.

Stones were embedded in the gate wall above the debris.

It had to be the baby Ogres the Queen had relocated to her spot.

Once she'd pieced it together, she turned to see the two Ogres charging at her full tilt.

Now it was a three-on-one, completely unfavorable.

She needed a way to break through faster.

'Think. Or I'm the one getting smashed.'

The once-still Ogre Queen now followed behind the others, swinging her club in earnest.

She was too busy dodging clubs and stones to land proper attacks.

'Need to separate them and take them one by one. But not in this state.'

She needed time to think.

'Buy time. Try Stealth.'

With a peng, her body was sucked into the gate wall.

The three Ogres hurled stones and swung clubs at the sound, but Lee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ru-ri had already slipped away.

The Ogres scanned around the spot where she'd vanished.

Lee Ru-ri put distance between them quickly.

Stealth made an unimpressive sound when it deactivated too.

'In that case.'

The first Ogre to hear the peng of Stealth ending charged at her.

Lee Ru-ri dove into the wall with Stealth again and sprinted to a spot not far from her first disappearance, deactivating it.

Sure enough, another remaining Ogre rushed toward the sound.

'Use Stealth to scatter them, then spam smaller, wider Extinctions. But if they clump even a little, it's over. Stay sharp.'

Lee Ru-ri ran full speed along the gate wall's edge, crossed to the opposite side, and deactivated Stealth in a position where the Ogre Queen would spot her immediately.

As expected, the Queen locked on and charged, club swinging.

Now she just had to keep the separated ones at max distance and crush them.

Lee Ru-ri ran with everything she had, again and again.

No mana limits meant as long as she didn't tire out, victory would tilt her way for sure.

Her lungs burned from sprinting madly along the walls, but strangely, her body felt light.

'I've pushed my body this hard—I should've collapsed ages ago. Instead, it's getting lighter.'

The Ogres fell helplessly to her Stealth tactics.

Soon, one of the two larger Ogres let out a shrill scream and collapsed.

The remaining Ogres began to falter.

The Ogre Queen's swings weakened momentarily, and the last Ogre floundered in confusion.

Lee Ru-ri seized total momentum. But she couldn't let her guard down.

The Queen's club still packed enough power for a fatal blow in one hit, even weakened.

The remaining Ogre didn't last long and crumpled pathetically.

The Ogre Queen's HP had fallen to 49%.

Lee Ru-ri chipped away carefully using Stealth.

—Keuaaaaaah!

Sensing her end, the Ogre Queen roared.

Her remaining HP was barely 1%.

Feeling the surge from Superhuman Strength once more, Lee Ru-ri unleashed her largest Extinction yet at the Queen.

The Ogre Queen bellowed like when she'd evolved her babies into adults, then collapsed with a thud.

Dding.

Her status window activated with an alarm.

"It was in a state where I could raise favor, but no alarm went off, so I thought that was weird."

Dding, dding.

'What the heck is this?'

She was briefly flustered by the alerts when they started blaring nonstop again.

Ddiring.