Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Flame Demon's End
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Thud!
A trembling hand shot out from the pitch-black passage, where not even the interior was visible, flailing desperately to grasp at the empty floor.
Just like those humans in zombie movies or dramas, right before getting bitten, struggling for dear life by clawing at the ground for what felt like ages—until it latched onto the only nearby support: my shoe.
A desperate, powerful grip clamped onto my leg, and a doll-like figure crawled out from the darkness into view.
His body was covered in angry red burns, flesh melted into goo in spots from poison gas, face smeared with tears, snot, and worse.
"You came? So it was you after all. Flame Demon Lee Ji-hyeong."
"Ughhhh..."
Lee Ji-hyeong was so steeped in terror and agony that he couldn't even speak anymore.
He just dragged his body across the floor past me, desperate to escape those horrific traps by any means.
His mind utterly shattered—he was as good as dead. The fact that he'd tailed us in secret was long forgotten, and the way he wasn't even using his Stealth skill made it clear just how far gone he was.
'Did I go too far?'
At least if he could talk, I could ask who sent him.
I clicked my tongue and yanked the sword from the floor, planting myself squarely in his path.
"Ah... Monster! Monster! Please spare me! Please! I wasn't gonna kill you! It was a mistake! Spare me! No... kill me! It hurts! I'm scared! Kyahaha! I'll kill you all! No... mistake! Gonna kill you! Mistake!"
Watching him babble incoherently like he was having a full personality split, Seo Mi-na wrinkled her nose.
"I had a hunch, but it's really Lee Ji-hyeong. How the hell did he even get in here?"
"He must've tailed either you or me. And from the looks of it, he released the boss without realizing how strong it was since it was his first time seeing it. What an idiot—or just a total moron."
I didn't even need to hear it from him to know exactly what he'd been thinking and why he'd pulled that stunt.
'He didn't like me, so he let the boss loose to screw me over. Then panicked and bolted when Seo Mi-na was in real danger.'
I clicked my tongue again. To think this pathetic lowlife would later become the Flame Demon, a high-ranking demon officer.
"What're you gonna do with him?"
"Kill him. Can't leave loose ends. Besides, he looks like he's gonna croak any second anyway?"
I said that as I snatched a glinting stone from his pocket and a ring off his finger.
"Escape stone, lowest grade. You'd need at least a hundred magic stones to activate this thing. And this ring must be what lets him use Stealth."
No way a promising rookie like Lee Ji-hyeong, who hadn't seen real combat yet, shelled out for an expensive skill like Stealth on his own dime.
'Star Cloud Guild put him up to it. To take me out.'
Sure, I'd told him to make a contract offer first—with a deal full of poison clauses—but that truth would stay buried forever.
'Guess I'm enemies with them now.'
Looked like it was because I'd trashed the image and rep of their big-money investment, Lee Ji-hyeong...
Ordering a hit on their golden boy—even arming him to the teeth—and on a guy I'd already beaten once, no less.
'Making enemies because of Misfortune... not a smart move.'
But I couldn't just let him walk. His mind was shattered anyway; he wouldn't make it out alive.
'If he snapped out of it, he could've escaped the hidden stage since we cleared the 2nd floor.'
Better this way. I'd been planning to kill him the moment we exited the trial anyway, just in case.
"Want me to do it? If it's too tough, I can handle it."
She must've thought I was hesitating over the kill. She stepped up beside me, drew the spear from her waist, and spoke calmly.
But I was fine. Ignoring her trembling hand as best I could, I raised my sword.
"Go in peace. Don't hold it against me. This is all on you."
To survive, I wouldn't leave any threats behind.
Stab!
My sword plunged into his heart, and those two 10% powers I'd never triggered before both activated at once.
Whoosh! Crackle!
His left side burned while the right froze solid.
"...!!"
And so, the Flame Demon Lee Ji-hyeong—who would later slaughter countless hunters and strike fear as a demon—met a pitiful end right here.
We left his corpse on the 2nd floor and headed up to the 3rd.
The 3rd floor was where mummies appeared as monsters—undead rejecting death in the darkness, yearning desperately for life.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Their stats were only a smidge higher than the Black Hounds we'd faced on the 1st floor.
They weren't much of a threat, and with no Lee Ji-hyeong to interfere this time, we cleared the 3rd floor at a leisurely pace.
By the time we'd taken down the boss, Seo Mi-na and I both hit level 9.
With the spare points from each level-up, I'd pumped my Infinite stat to 34. It'd probably hit 35 right on level 10.
Resting by the boss's corpse, I frowned.
'No reward from the Unyielding stat... no message that Misfortune's tapped out.'
The Unyielding stat rewarded extra stats and points after overcoming Misfortune. Misfortune itself always warned me after burning through its bad luck, promising more later.
But this time, even after perfectly dealing with the Lee Ji-hyeong fiasco... nothing.
Which meant...
'Misfortune's schemes aren't over yet.'
Irritation bubbled up, and my head throbbed. Was I just too on-edge from honing my senses so sharply?
A headache hit, and a sigh escaped me.
"Really pissing me off."
"Why? Feeling bad about killing Lee Ji-hyeong? It couldn't be helped. He came for us first—I almost died for real. You did the right thing."
Her attempt to comfort me drew an involuntary chuckle.
Yeah, what good was brooding gonna do?
If more misfortune was coming anyway, I'd just be more cautious and hit back harder. Sure, the phrase "massive misfortune" grated a bit, but I'd overcome it like always and cling to life with my stubborn hide.
'I can't die a pathetic death here like Lee Ji-hyeong!'
Resolve sharpened my mind, a faint smile tugging at my lips.
"Let's head up. Fast."
Seo Mi-na and I pushed straight into the 4th floor.
Screeeeech!!! Shrieeeeeek!!! Zzzzzzt!!!
The moment we entered the floor, our ears were assaulted by wails of despair from souls trapped as vengeful spirits, unable to die—their screams and anguish filling the entire layer.
At the same time, a message appeared, reducing the spirits' attacks to nothing more than irritating noise.
But that was only for me.
"Kyaaak!!"
I glanced at Seo Mi-na, who was clutching her ears in agony, and quickly opened my inventory to grab a potion.
I uncorked it and poured it straight into her mouth. She gulped it down eagerly. Once the bottle was empty, she finally seemed okay, releasing her ears and making a face like the lingering despair sounds were nauseating.
"Thanks. I thought I was gonna lose it. The instant I heard those sounds, every negative emotion just... amplified. Like, I wanted to kill myself."
This floor seemed designed to test the mind—a vicious trial meant to make you give up through sheer despair.
But I had a unique ability and stat that made me all but invincible against mental attacks. And I'd just made Seo Mi-na safe too, with a straight-up General-S grade mental protection potion.
"Let's go. This'll be a breeze."
"Yeah... You're reliable."
We strolled across the field at our leisure. How far had we gone?
Right around when her mental protection wore off, the clear message for the 4th floor popped up with rewards—and another choice prompt.
"On to the 5th."
Whoosh!
The instant we entered, a brilliant flame erupted behind us, finally pushing back the darkness a little.
"So bright!"
"Ugh!"
After slogging through the dark relying on a single light orb, seeing real fire was dazzling—but it felt good.
But that joy turned to tension the moment I spotted monsters rising from the distant sands.
'Ten of 'em!'
A number I could handle solo. So I decided fast.
"I'll go up front and keep 'em from getting near the fire as much as possible. Seo Mi-na, you finish off any I miss!"
"Got it!"
From teaming up so far, I'd noticed—whatever awakening her Fortune power had triggered, her burst damage outclassed mine by a wide margin.
Probably the gap in our energy stats. But my physical stats dominated, letting me endure way longer.
'That's why I'll tank up front.'
Who knew how many waves or how tough the spawns would get? She needed to conserve as much as possible for the boss.
Thud!
I kicked off the ground and charged. Sand-formed earthen dolls lunged at me.
"Die!"
My sharpened senses pinpointed their cores—I cleaved one per swing. Exactly ten swings ended the first wave.
"Weak. And stingy on exp."
We got ten minutes' rest, then repeated the cycle of downtime and defense, holding the flame.
.
.
.
.
-Rooooooar!!!
"Huff... huff... Almost over. Damn it."
Each wave ramped up the monster count by one. Starting from the 90th, we got 99 beasts plus a mid-boss.
The real issue? I'd hit level 10 back around wave 32—no more levels after that. Infinite stat capped at 35, but stamina was running dry.
I chugged a recovery potion she'd given me, then gripped my sword again.
"Just two more. Then done."
Had to be 100 waves total. I reverse-gripped my sword, kicked off, and started carving through the horde.
I collapsed to the floor, watching the mid-boss dissolve into sand and sink away.
Every monster in the waves was a sand doll made of sand and cores.
Higher waves brought tougher dolls with more cores. The mid-boss I'd just dropped had a whopping eleven.
"Damn... almost bit it. No time to even chug a sense buff potion."
No major injuries on me. I'd avoided anything fatal through ninety-nine waves.
Just a bunch of scrapes and tears. But piled up, they left my clothes soaked in blood and twice as sticky.
Seo Mi-na was in the same boat way over there. No way I could've soloed a hundred monsters, so plenty leaked past—and she defended the flame like her life depended on it, not letting a single attack connect.
"Final one now?"
The ten minutes flew by as I caught my breath and downed the sense buff potion plus four physical buffs.
"Fuuu... Feels good!"
Power surged through me, euphoria overflowing like I could do anything.
Good thing leveling up boosted my export limit by fifty more, or I couldn't have blown through Golden Treasury potions like this.
Right now, 1st floor ownership sat at 9.9%, inches from 10%. It wouldn't budge further, so there must be some condition—and hitting 10% would surely trigger something big.
"Let's get it started?"
I gripped my sword tight and charged at the colossal sand doll awakening at the desert's far edge.