The Shadow Giant's First Move
The shadow giant's first move began with both of us swinging our fists. Thud.
“Ugh.”
The moment my fist collided with the shadow giant’s downward-smashing punch, a violent shockwave erupted. The contest of strength held taut for only a brief instant before the outcome was decided.
Boom!
“Gah!”
It was my loss. Overpowered in the clash, I was forced to stagger backward several steps.
‘In terms of raw strength, we’re even. No—I'm actually a little ahead.’
I was certain of it the instant our fists met. The real problem was mass. The giant was seven times my size, and the sheer weight difference made it impossible not to be pushed back.
‘If I hadn’t learned how to walk properly, I would’ve been sent flying.’
“Hahaha.”
It wasn’t exactly great news, but I couldn’t help laughing. That massive shadow was a special variant of the shadow monsters. Its minimum level upon appearance was 34. In other words, my current specs were already effective against a level 34 enemy.
‘Our strength is barely even, so I still have a long way to go.’
That faint tension only fueled my excitement.
Whoosh!
Before I could savor the feeling, the shadow giant’s kick came flying in.
“Wait, seriously, what the—!”
I took half a step back and braced my body. Then, reading the direction of the incoming attack, I surrendered myself to its flow.
Ancient Martial Arts — Stepping Technique: Flowing Water.
Just as impact disperses in flowing water, I redirected most of the force striking me. The portion I couldn’t shed, I converted entirely into propulsion and used it to create distance from the shadow giant.
‘Normally, giving ground to an opponent with longer reach is something only amateurs do.’
But staying pinned against that tree like a nail would only mean getting pummeled until I broke free. It was better to create space and look for an opening.
‘I can already see points that need improvement.’
Several fatal weaknesses were glaringly obvious in my current state. The first was my slow movement speed because I hadn’t yet mastered the running technique. Against normal human-sized opponents, proper movement let me dodge well enough, but against something this massive or at too great a distance, it became a serious problem. Without enough speed to evade, I turned into a one-sided punching bag.
The second weakness was the complete lack of long-range attacks. So far, I had only clashed with the giant’s hands and feet. While our power was perfectly matched and neither of us had taken serious damage, I had no way to penetrate its reach and land a hit.
“Should I~ help you~?”
“Let me try a little longer!”
In truth, I should have accepted Diana’s help here. No one can do everything alone, after all. That’s why we have comrades. But the situation stirred something stubborn inside me. I wanted to solve this with my own strength.
“If it gets too hard~ just call me anytime~!”
Perhaps this wasn’t the first time, because Diana readily accepted my refusal. I sent her a silent thank-you and turned my gaze back to the shadow giant.
“………”
It slowly retracted its extended leg and looked at me with leisure. It was wary of Diana, but since she showed no sign of moving, it had relaxed.
‘If you’re strong enough, you can do pretty much anything.’
Watching that creature made me realize what I lacked.
‘But not everything is possible.’
Detection, judgment, choice. The ability to apply overwhelming power at the right place and time was equally important. In gaming terms, it was control. Since this was reality, there were far more variables to consider than in a game, but on a fundamental level, the principle remained the same. You had to understand your own resources, calculate the right angle of approach, and respond calmly. That never changed.
‘Right now, I’m no different from a beginner who just got their hands on an overpowered character.’
It couldn’t be helped. This was only my second real battle, after all. Experience—the foundation of good judgment—could only be gained by doing it yourself.
Still, separate from that objective truth, having Oh Ji-o’s memories made the situation sting.
‘You suck at games, dude.’ ‘Your control is trash.’ ‘All spec, no skill—classic Linzer.’
Those kinds of thoughts hurt quite a bit.
‘It’s not like this is a life-or-death crisis.’
It was dangerous for me personally, but there were already more than enough ways to defeat the shadow giant. I could accept Diana’s help, or I could pull out my dedicated weapon. But that would ultimately just be overpowering it with raw specs.
‘Experience only grows when you do it yourself.’
I decided to treat this situation as an opportunity to get used to this kind of tactical thinking. So I returned to the fundamentals of all combat: knowing yourself first.
‘The items in my subspace bag, my physical specs and the abilities I can use, and the tactics that can be derived from them.’
Many people look down on status windows and game-like thinking, but few methods are as intuitive. Oh Ji-o’s knowledge objectively organized my specs into numbers, made my skills and inventory window crystal clear, and even built effective gamer-style builds for me. This was the power that Oh Ji-o possessed despite being unable to use even a single drop of mana.
"Descent."
⟨ Gamer's Tactics ⟩
And so I reached a conclusion.
* * *
“First, experiment!”
Boom!
I drove both hands into the ground. When people think of long-range attacks, they usually picture archers or mages, but there was something far more primal.
Crack. Crunch.
Cracks began spreading across the floor that had guarded this sealing site for hundreds of years.
‘Only the necessary parts, only as much as needed.’
Ancient Martial Arts — Stepping Technique: Projection.
I controlled the direction of the force from my strength and split the floor apart.
“Hup!”
The chunk I tore free was a boulder the size of a large shipping container. The most primitive attack known to mankind.
“One, two!”
Rock throwing.
Whoosh—!
A simple throw would naturally be weak. It couldn’t carry mana like a spear or arrow, and adding technique was difficult. Even with physical reinforcement, there was a limit. No matter how hard I threw, it wouldn’t exceed a certain threshold.
But what if the rock was the size of a shipping container?
And what if it flew at 150 kilometers per hour, like a fastball?
Thud!
The result was immediately apparent.
“………!!”
No scream was heard. But I clearly saw the previously relaxed shadow giant hurriedly move to block.
Clatter.
Even so, the shadow giant couldn’t move its body or release its hardened defense. After all, both arms it had used to block were shattered. It was too busy dealing with that.
“Ugh…”
That didn’t mean I was completely fine. The attack had been heavy even for me. The muscles in both arms were swollen and trembling, but it didn’t matter. The experiment had been a success.
‘As expected, even a primitive and simple attack becomes irrelevant once it crosses a certain line.’
With shaking hands, I took a potion from my subspace bag, applied it, and drank it. It wouldn’t fully restore me, so repeating an attack of that scale would be difficult, but that was fine.
‘Then I just need to keep using attacks that aren’t too taxing.’
Clatter.
Along with the potion, I scattered the items I had pulled out onto the ground. These crude-looking orbs were low-grade explosive magic stones. In the game they were simple consumables that dealt a fixed 50 damage, and even in reality they weren’t particularly popular weapons. The general consensus was that swinging a sword one more time was better than throwing these. Still, because there was no better self-defense tool for ordinary people, they continued to be produced.
Crunch.
I roughly grabbed three or four in each hand. In the original game, the system limited you to throwing one at a time, but that restriction didn’t apply now. The fact that even normal people could use them meant they were light.
“About twenty of them.”
The shadow monsters’ weaknesses were light and fire. Even if the attacks were trivial, twenty of them should still be quite effective.
First pitch.
“Throwing!”
Whoosh!
The first magic stone flew beyond the dust cloud at a speed comparable to sound.
Boom!
“………!”
“Looks like the deadball is rising nicely.”
Then I set my stance for the second pitch.
“Here it comes!”
Boom!
The sound of explosions from the shadow giant’s abdomen did not stop.
* * *
“There are still limits, after all.”
I had added physical force and even exploited its elemental weakness, but fundamentally the attacks were too weak. Once the smoke cleared, the giant looked quite ragged, but it didn’t seem like it would fall.
“………!”
However, its stamina consumption was clearly severe. It also looked extremely angry.
“Are you sure you don’t need help~?”
“I’m fine!”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The giant abandoned its leisurely movements and charged at me with heavy, powerful steps.
“Hoo…”
I neither widened the distance nor closed in. I simply continued observing its movements.
‘Throwing let me substitute for long-range attacks, but it still can’t deliver the finishing blow.’
If the giant were smaller or my strength were higher, it might eventually work, but not right now. I had already known that, of course. In the end, the finishing move had to be close-range.
That was why Oh Ji-o had suggested the strategy of inflicting a Rage debuff on the opponent and chipping away at its stamina through constant poking—so I could end it with a single decisive strike.
Therefore, this time I waited with maximum focus.
Boom!
“………!”
The shadow giant closed the distance in an instant and swung its arm. Instead of a fist, it had spread its entire palm. The intent was clear: it wanted to crush me like a bug so I couldn’t dodge. A wide-area attack was effective against someone as slow as me.
But this time, I had no intention of dodging at all.
As its palm came crashing down, I met it with my own palm. The rage-filled hand descended with ferocious power and crushing weight, and soon collided with mine.
‘Now.’
Ancient Martial Arts — Stepping Technique: Guidance.
I took half a step back and gently swung my arm. I redirected both my own power and the power being swung at me in a different direction. The point of balance immediately shifted from below to the left.
Boom!
Controlling force wasn’t just about concentrating it into a single point. Completely dissipating it or redirecting it elsewhere was also force control. These techniques were possible because standing correctly taught balance, and walking correctly taught movement.
Also known as “Four ounces can move a thousand pounds.”
If four ounces of force could move a thousand pounds, then how much could a thousand pounds of force move?
The shadow giant’s all-out attack missed me and slammed into the ground instead. This was exactly the opportunity I had been waiting for.
“Change: Large Stake.”
The gauntlet covering my hand melted down again, transforming into a stake so large and heavy that it was difficult to hold.
“You stay here! I’m leaving!”
Boom!
I drove it straight into the shadow giant’s hand.
“………!”
A silent scream echoed, but unfortunately for the giant, it wasn’t an attack. Stakes were, after all, meant to fix something in place.
Ancient Martial Arts — Stepping Technique.
I walked along the giant’s forearm. The angle was nearly vertical, but it didn’t matter. There were various additional effects, but in the end, the foundation of ancient martial arts was simply walking correctly, wasn’t it? Once a person who stood correctly had achieved perfect balance, it was only natural that a person who walked correctly could walk anywhere.
“………!”
The shadow giant must have seen me, because it began flailing its arm wildly.
“Walking confidently~”
I didn’t fall.
“………!”
It tried to shake me off with its other hand.
“Nope, useless~”
I let it all flow past me.
“………!”
It tried many other methods to dislodge me, but none worked. I simply walked quietly along its wrist, past its shoulder, until I reached its neck. And finally, the moment I touched the nape—
“………”
The shadow giant, overcome with terror, could only tremble.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Crack.
With that, the shadow giant found rest.