Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Ace (3)
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‘…Fuck, that hurts!’
The statue swung its greatsword, and I took the full brunt of it.
In response to Training Team 4's enthusiastic cheers, I'd let my guard down completely and eaten a direct hit.
I slammed into the wall like a baseball smacked by a bat.
Home run. Grand slam, even.
I was pretending to be fine, but inside, I was anything but.
My back hurt. My side hurt.
Were my ribs shattered?
I wanted to just collapse right there and pass out.
But I didn't black out.
It wasn't that my mental strength had gotten any tougher. My body must have just gotten sturdier.
It hurt more than I expected, but it was better than I'd thought.
That was the answer.
This was different from the orc dungeon last time.
Back then, one hit from the orc great warrior had knocked me out cold. Now, my mind was sharp as ever.
I wanted to faint, but I couldn't even do that.
‘Means I've gotten that much tougher.’
Indestructible hadn't activated.
It had triggered when Choi Da-eun kicked me in the balls.
According to my status window's judgment, it wasn't instant-death damage.
It meant my endurance could handle something like the 5th floor's "Anubis Lower Warriors."
I pushed through the dust cloud and walked toward the statue.
I roughly unbuckled the shield strap and tossed it aside, then rolled my wrists and shoulders vigorously.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "You're quite the sturdy one." The temple's master, Anubis, whispered right in my ear.
Anubis, endlessly merciful only to the dead.
His noise-distorted voice was laced with agitation.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "Defeating a single lower warrior changes nothing. Your life ends here. Become one of the dead and face the trial." The moment Anubis finished speaking, the lower warriors raised their weapons and charged at me.
Their unmanaged blades were extremely blunt.
Practically clubs.
The lower warrior's strike sliced through the air toward my body.
A tight, flawless attack.
I took it with my bare body.
“Iron Body.”
No need for Indestructible.
I just had to endure the split-second pain.
Boom-!
“Gah…!”
I endured it, but only the damage.
My body wasn't embedded in the floor, so I couldn't resist the force's direction.
The instant the lower warrior's weapon hit, my legs flew up.
My body shot away in an instant.
I returned to my spot on the ground just like that.
“Sun-woo! Heal!”
“Agh….”
Slammed into the wall again.
The dust that had just settled billowed up once more.
A green glow enveloped my body.
The faint pain vanished.
“Whew.”
Choi Da-eun clicked her tongue from way back there. I could hear it all the way here.
But she didn't hurl any curses.
Maybe the first stage of anger: mild irritation.
She dangled the Thorn Whip loosely and watched me.
Standing still as if it wasn't her turn yet, spectating.
She still believed in me.
I brushed the dirt off my clothes and stood once more.
Seven falls, eight rises.
We were barely at the temple entrance.
No time to take it easy here.
Time to smash these "Anubis Lower Warriors" and move to the next stage.
Combat assessment done. Now for the real deal.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Two consecutive wall-slams.
Park Sun-woo staggered to his feet, looking like a mess.
Watching him, Lee Jin-seong didn't bother hiding his sneer.
What a moron.
Once is a mistake. Twice is just skill—or lack thereof.
The bastard had eaten attacks like an idiot.
When the frontliner falls, the backline's in danger too.
That's why ranged dealers and supporters have to cheer on the tank.
But not Lee Jin-seong.
He hoped Park Sun-woo would crash and burn.
Especially with Lee Eun-seo by his side, gazing at Park Sun-woo with starry eyes.
It boiled his blood every time.
Couldn't understand why she looked at him like that.
‘Same as always. Same old trash Park Sun-woo….’
Park Sun-woo burst out of the dust cloud.
This time, he moved his body directly to press the attack.
Bare fists—no knuckles, no gloves—slamming into the statue.
Boom-!
“Whoa.”
Choi Da-eun, spectating behind Lee Jin-seong, let out a gasp of admiration.
The woman who always cursed first about anything Park Sun-woo-related was nodding along as she watched his fight.
“Fuck, that bastard's finally acting like a person.”
Seeing Park Sun-woo's growth, Choi Da-eun looked genuinely impressed.
She'd deny it vehemently if confronted, of course.
But to Lee Jin-seong….
‘Even Team Leader's cheering for Park Sun-woo?’
More shocking than Lee Eun-seo's gaze.
Choi Da-eun seemed the type who'd kick Park Sun-woo's shin before planting a tree, even if the world ended today.
Thud-.
One statue crumbled.
Park Sun-woo was clearing the lower warriors on his own.
The supporters helped, but it was basically solo play.
‘How much have his stats gone up?’
Lee Jin-seong couldn't comprehend his growth.
A guy stuck in place for half a year suddenly solos a 4th-floor dungeon, and now shines on the 5th?
He didn't want to admit it.
‘Why that moron…. Why him of all people…!’
His hands and feet trembled.
He was more furious than when he'd heard his cousin got into a top university, or his cousin sister ranked up to B-grade.
“Hoo!”
Park Sun-woo had toppled all the statues.
An F-rank hunter soloing 5th-floor monsters, and his tension was steady.
Meaning he could aim even higher.
“Park Sun-woo, you fucking bastard!”
Choi Da-eun strode toward him purposefully.
Her steps were so wide it looked like shrinking earth technique.
Right up in Park Sun-woo's face, she patted his shoulders firmly, praising him.
“You can do it. You could all along, you piece of shit!”
“Ow, that hurts.”
“What're you saying.”
A giant leap forward. Growth far beyond the other team members.
Choi Da-eun's voice carried a sincerity he'd never heard before.
A bright smile without a hint of falsehood.
Park Sun-woo felt an inexplicable pride.
More gratifying than recognition from S-rank hunter Han So-ra. A C-rank's approval hitting harder.
Irony at its finest.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "So you've defeated my warriors." Anubis wouldn't let Training Team 4's cheerful mood stand.
Lee Jin-seong was glad for the perfectly timed interruption.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "Those were lower warriors—the weakest of my forces." “Beat one of the Four Heavenly Kings and call it the weakest? Jerking off to that?”
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "...What did you say?" “Nothing.”
Park Sun-woo's mutter cut Anubis off briefly.
Anubis steadied his breath in that noise-ridden voice, then continued.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "You lot have passed the first trial. Now, the second trial." Anubis pointed the way.
A green arrow appeared in the hunters' vision.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "Heh heh heh. If you arrive safely where I am." Anubis's sleazy laugh.
Choi Da-eun brushed off his words and ordered Training Team 4.
“Follow the arrow. When you reach Anubis, ace the trial.”
The trial content tied directly to dungeon conquest.
She couldn't spell it out.
Training Team 4 had to handle it with their own skills.
"Anubis Lower Warriors" waited at every checkpoint along the way.
The over-5-meter giant statues were intimidating just by existing.
But they were no match for Park Sun-woo.
Once the ranged dealers and supporters started supporting directly, it got even easier.
Unstoppable momentum.
Smooth sailing.
“Yeah! Fuck yeah! Let's gooo!”
Choi Da-eun trailed behind, yelling at the top of her lungs.
Her face flushed with uncharacteristic excitement.
Nostrils flaring to boot.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "Didn't expect you'd arrive so easily. I sincerely acknowledge you all." Deep in the temple, Anubis on his jade throne welcomed Training Team 4.
Gleaming luster from his black jackal fur.
Seemed he hadn't earned his godhood lightly.
⚖️ ANUBIS WHISPERS ⚖️ "Now, the trial." Anubis grabbed the staff by his throne and swung it fiercely.
The piled sand on either side swept across the floor, taking shape.
An "Anubis Upper Warrior" appeared—bigger and tougher-looking than the lower ones.
Not gray stone, but real flesh, colored: Anubis's jackal.
“Still just a dog bastard!”
Choi Da-eun pointed at the upper warrior and yelled.
“Go, Park Sun-woo! Fuck, just kill that dog bastard too!”
“Sun-woo! Sun-woo!”
Park Sun-woo charged the upper warrior, chanting his own name.
He smashed a full-power light hook into its thigh—twice the size of a lower warrior.
“Huh?”
Park Sun-woo lifted his hand slightly.
He'd definitely hit it, so why was his wrist snapped?
“Kieeeek!”
Park Sun-woo let out a scream full of agony.
Seeing his dangling wrist made the scream even more pitiful.
“Ugh.”
Even Choi Da-eun winced and grimaced.
“H-Heal!”
Lee Eun-seo used her skill.
Healed Park Sun-woo's arm.
Park Sun-woo looked up at the upper warrior with a terrified face.
The opponent was so damn strong that Indestructible didn't trigger, but it wasn't knocking him out clean either.
Too ambiguous to know who'd win.
“H-Hey, fuck….”
“Park Sun-woo, you bastard!”
Choi Da-eun read his thoughts.
She could tell what he'd try just from the back of his head.
He wasn't tank material.
What was a tank?
The frontline warrior who took monster hits. The first to die in the party.
Park Sun-woo fled from stronger foes in fear.
Or rather than fear, he just hated pain.
‘Or maybe he's scared of dying.’
No hunter welcomed death.
Not a factor.
He'd met an enemy beyond his power.
Correction.
To Choi Da-eun, it was an enemy manageable with time.
The "Anubis Upper Warrior" wasn't unhuntable.
Just dungeon trash mob.
Park Sun-woo could endure its attacks.
The grown Park Sun-woo could tank an upper warrior without dying.
The key was mindset.
If he thought of fleeing first, even bearable pain became unbearable.
Conversely, with will to win, unbearable pain became bearable.
What Park Sun-woo lacked most was that will.
He didn't even consider winning.
To use Park Sun-woo properly, remodel his mentality first.
That was Choi Da-eun's role.
Snap-!
Choi Da-eun unfurled the Thorn Whip.
If he even thought of fleeing, she'd beat it out of him.
“Thinking of running? Then just die there, you piece of shit!”
Aura gathered at the Thorn Whip's tip.
The menacingly glowing aura was red—blood-red.
Shifted from base blue to red.
She'd leveled up once more.