Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Not Such a Big Deal
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'What’s this? Not a big deal at all?'
It was true that I'd gotten a bit scared because the party members kept going on about it being a legendary monster or whatever, but the Onyx Golem we actually faced wasn't all that threatening.
Jeong-hyeon had half-suspected as much, but the Neutral Magic Enchantment trait was playing a major role here.
At first, he'd thought it was no different from forcibly wrapping mana around something using his Mana Sensitivity trait.
If simplifying the process of imbuing fire magic onto a weapon counted as Fire Enchantment, then converting regular mana through the same process was Neutral Enchantment.
But the actual Neutral Enchantment felt a bit more subtle.
It wasn't purely physical damage, nor was it purely magical damage.
'Instead, it turns out I have a super-effective advantage against golems.'
That was how he could deal devastating damage even to an Onyx Golem, which possessed cheat-like magic resistance that made people call it broken.
Of course, it wouldn't deal as much damage to regular living units, but it was still a hundred times better than just hitting them with a plain weapon, so it had to be called a perfect counter.
No, even just being able to sense where the core was located was practically a disaster for the golems.
In the end, Jeong-hyeon succeeded in throwing six daggers in an instant and bringing the golem to its knees, letting out a cheer of triumph.
'This is totally jackpot, isn't it?'
The system probably hadn't anticipated that Neutral Magic Enchantment would work this well against an Onyx Golem.
Otherwise, why would it have slapped on a 5-coin reward for the sudden quest?
Now that he'd confirmed the effects of Neutral Magic Enchantment, Jeong-hyeon had one more thing he wanted to try.
'Should I pry out the golem core?'
He had no intention of just killing an Onyx Golem and moving on like, "Oh well, got it."
It was valuable equipment material, so he planned to harvest as much as possible and ask Doil to make something out of it.
The daggers he'd thrown at the golem were probably all ruined anyway, so this worked out perfectly.
On top of that, a golem core was a ridiculously rare material that was more legendary than legend itself—you couldn't buy it no matter how much you wanted.
'Normally, they only drop one at a time during gate breaks...'
To extract a golem core, you obviously needed overwhelming power to subdue it.
But what constituted overwhelming power for a hunter?
Without a doubt, rank and level.
However, since gates had level restrictions, hunters with levels high enough to overpower a golem usually exceeded those restrictions.
In other words, the hunters capable of extracting a golem core ironically couldn't enter the gate where that golem was.
Unless they were S-Rank, maybe.
That was why golem cores only occasionally became available during breaks when monsters came out on their own, and were otherwise treated as completely unobtainable items.
Word was that even when hunters managed to extract one, most of them lost their power right there on the spot.
With such poor cost-effectiveness, there was no reason to send S-Rank hunters into golem gates.
That was why golem cores were treated as legendary materials in every way.
But when the opportunity arose, it was only natural to at least give it a shot.
This wasn't just any golem—it was an Onyx Golem. If he could get its core, it'd be a huge score.
'The quest objective was just to stop the golem, not destroy the core.'
It felt like the system had cleverly worded it that way, as if daring him to think of that.
Having thought that far, Jeong-hyeon didn't draw another dagger. Instead, he picked up the mace he'd had no reason to use until now.
"M-Mace?"
"Why that thing...?"
The tanks, who had been cheering at the sight of the Onyx Golem flailing powerlessly on the ground, were stunned to see Jeong-hyeon do that.
They meant that it would be easier to just keep throwing daggers to find the core, so why bother picking up the secondary weapon mace?
But after a moment's thought, they could understand Jeong-hyeon's judgment.
Even though he'd managed to bring the Onyx Golem to its knees, that was only by targeting its vulnerable joints.
He couldn't keep throwing limited daggers without knowing where the core was hidden.
And from their close vantage point, they could clearly see it too.
'The daggers are all broken.'
The daggers embedded in the golem were cracked all over or even shattered, proving the excessive force they'd endured.
Rationally speaking, it made more sense to use the mace to search for the core while he still had some leeway.
'I've gotta climb right up to its head.'
Of course, unlike their guesses, Jeong-hyeon already knew exactly where the core was.
Once he'd started moving, he'd already passed the line formed by the tanks.
The Onyx Golem swept its arm with clear intent this time, as if it knew who had reduced it to this state—unlike its previous wild flailing.
It was a golem without will, but this was probably the crisis instinct kicking in, refusing to allow Jeong-hyeon any closer.
'Slow.'
But no matter what, Jeong-hyeon wasn't going to let himself get hit easily.
Even in perfect condition, the golem's sluggish speed made it hard to land a hit on Jeong-hyeon if he was really trying to dodge.
At best, it could only block his approach.
And with its center of gravity completely collapsed, it was even worse.
The golem's fist swept from left to right, covering a wide area at a slant.
Rather than dodging away, Jeong-hyeon threw himself toward the left—the direction the fist was coming from—just before the gap closed completely.
Whoosh—
The massive black arm passed over his head, grazing his ear with a terrifying sound before slamming into the ground with a boom.
It might look dangerous to dodge left at first glance, but it was the best choice.
The golem wasn't stupid, even if it was slow.
Dodging right might lead to the next arm following without gap, or an easy follow-up from the first arm.
But by moving into the path of the attack, he'd bought himself at least two timings.
One to retrieve the arm from the ground, and one to launch the next attack.
And that was more than enough time for Jeong-hyeon to close in on the golem's body.
'It's disgustingly huge up close.'
He reached it leisurely, but the Onyx Golem looked on another level from this distance.
Even on its knees, it was about the same size as the golem from the initial tanking phase.
Somehow, its rage-filled eyes swept over Jeong-hyeon.
He had to climb up to those eyes somehow.
The problem was,
'Nowhere to grab.'
A rock golem would have rough surfaces with plenty of friction for climbing, but the Onyx Golem was smooth and glossy, offering no handholds.
He could climb it somehow, but it would take time, and if he was unlucky, he'd get hit mid-climb.
He had to decide quickly.
'If there's nowhere to grab, just make one.'
Fortunately, he'd gained some experience with this during the Demi Drake hunt.
Back then, he'd used Ha-yul the archer's arrow shaft, but this time he'd have to make his own.
Holding the mace in his left hand, Jeong-hyeon drew Black with his right.
To create a foothold, he couldn't pour mana into it like before.
There was no need to damage a non-core area, and if the embedded part crumbled, it'd be a disaster.
His target was around where a person's solar plexus would be.
The recoil from there should let him reach the shoulder, and from the shoulder to the head wouldn't be too hard.
He took a couple steps back to build a run-up, then dashed forward.
He was sure he could reach at least the chest.
More precisely, the height where the chest would be.
"Huh?"
The moment Jeong-hyeon kicked off the ground and leaped, a tank's panicked voice came from behind.
It didn't take long to realize why.
'Already?'
Jeong-hyeon was startled too.
He'd thought both knees were wrecked.
But the golem had already straightened its right knee.
It was much faster than he'd anticipated.
'Just one knee... Damn it!'
Jeong-hyeon cursed as he glanced at the other knee.
The golem had slyly focused its regeneration on the right knee.
The left was still in the state he'd confirmed.
He hadn't even considered the golem concentrating regeneration on one spot, so this was a disaster of disasters.
Just straightening one knee had lifted the golem's upper body considerably.
He couldn't just land back on the ground with nothing to show for his leap.
No, it was questionable if the golem would even give him that chance.
'Just stab it in!'
In a pinch, Jeong-hyeon jammed Black into the abdomen where his hand could reach.
Stab—
Fortunately, Black—coated with a thin layer of mana—sank smoothly into the Onyx Golem's body.
Releasing the enchantment in that state should support his body weight.
But the problem was elsewhere.
Groan—
Just as an ominous vibration transmitted through Black embedded in the golem's body, its right arm came swinging toward Jeong-hyeon, dangling from the abdomen.
'You crazy bastard—'
He hadn't expected it to swing its fist even at a target stuck to its own body, but the golem didn't seem to care.
Was it thinking it could just regenerate anyway?
'Jump off? Or somehow...'
Even with Thought Acceleration active, the fist was coming at an alarming speed.
It clearly had no qualms about punching its own body.
He might be able to kick off the arm and climb if he timed it right, but that would expose him in midair again.
Even for Jeong-hyeon, he couldn't maneuver in the air, turning him into a sitting fly.
Giving up and dropping here would mean failing the Onyx Golem subjugation.
He could pour out his remaining daggers to kneel it again, but the bought time would have to go toward a safe retreat.
He had time to agonize, but the answer was clear.
Better to give up cleanly without stubbornness than die being pigheaded.
He'd already earned plenty of coins, and the spent daggers could just be repurchased.
"You're really not getting away with this..."
Of course, separately from that, Jeong-hyeon's insides were boiling.
Sudden quest reward: 5 coins and 63% chance of 1 coin.
Plus six daggers bought with his hard-earned money.
Not more precious than life, but they'd haunt him like vengeful spirits every night.
As he gritted his teeth and tried to pull Black out of the golem's body,
"Knock that fist away! Raaah!"
Seeing the golem about to crush both itself and Jeong-hyeon, one tank took sudden action.
He hurled his shield forward, pointed end first.
He probably didn't realize Jeong-hyeon was planning a clean retreat.
In his panic, he'd thought Jeong-hyeon was doomed to get squished.
Without Thought Acceleration, even Jeong-hyeon might not have reacted in time to take a fatal hit from the golem.
But the problem was that in his haste, the shield flew at a slightly wrong angle.
It seemed meant to hit under the arm and deflect it, but it missed the arm entirely and sailed overhead.
Throwing wasn't easy to begin with.
Especially a solid metal shield as big as one's torso.
Thud—
Still, its mass was its mass, so the shield embedded firmly into the Onyx Golem's torso.
'Huh?'
And coincidentally, right at the chest height where Jeong-hyeon had first aimed his dagger.
'Even better?'
Jeong-hyeon had no choice but to redirect the force in his right hand—which had been about to pull out Black—for a different purpose.