Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: 30. Night Dungeon (4)
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“Youngwoo……?”
Youngwoo muttered in a daze, and in the meantime, a flood of golden flashes filled his vision with sensory hijack notifications.
「Sensory stat temporarily increased from 800 to 924.」
「Sensory stat temporarily increased from 924 to 1,089.」
「Sensory stat temporarily increased from 1,089 to 1,235.」
Eventually, his sensory stat became his highest, enough to activate "Nimbleness."
「Nimbleness」 - Mutated Ring
【When sensory is your highest stat, gain 10% damage reduction.】
It was because the freaks who had appeared alongside Im Bonghee were now charging in earnest.
-Grab him……!
-Legs first!
Judging by the sensory stats he had hijacked, the freaks' average capabilities were roughly between 200 and 300.
So purely in terms of combat, they weren't much of a threat, but the problem was their weight.
Kwaang!
Just having them clinging on was causing a massive drain on his stamina.
On top of that, every time they swung the blades in their hands, scratches opened up on his skin, and over time, these were becoming impossible to ignore.
No matter how high his durability was in the thousands, repeated hits to the same spot inevitably deepened the wounds.
“Urk!”
Of course, Youngwoo had a trick to shake off the enemies latched onto him.
Namely.
Puuuung!
「Self-Destruct」 - Mutated Bracelet
【Causes a powerful explosion.】
【Durability +300.】
A sort of suicide bomb called "Self-Destruct."
But no sooner had he blasted the nearby freaks away than others came rushing in like mad, and since Self-Destruct had a reload time anyway, he couldn't use it infinitely.
“Damn it.”
In the end, less than ten minutes later, blood was flowing from all over Youngwoo's body, and seeing this, Ricardo flew into a rage.
“Korean! Hang in there just a bit longer……!”
He said that, but in truth, he was already surrounded by seven or eight freaks himself.
Protecting both the bonfire and the oarsman at the same time was practically impossible.
‘Crazy, is this mission even winnable?’
Youngwoo gazed at the pathway lights that showed no sign of ending, blood pouring from his entire body.
Something… he needed something more.
But the whistle hadn't recharged yet, and using Dragon's Legacy like a boomerang couldn't keep up with wiping out the endlessly swarming freaks in time.
Thanks to "Masochism," his strength had surged dramatically, making him faster than before, but even so, he had a growing premonition that he wouldn't make it to the finish.
「Slime Core」 - Mutated Bracelet
【Regeneration dramatically increased.】
Because even his regeneration couldn't offset the constant minor damage from the freaks.
There were just too damn many of them.
‘Wait, where'd Im Bonghee go?’
Youngwoo wildly swung his black sword, extended to six meters, desperately searching for a familiar face amid the ashen corpses.
Then.
-Kraaaah!
He heard a guttural roar slicing in from outside his field of vision on the side and turned his head.
And there.
Swaaang!
A silver-gray axe blade came flying straight at him.
-Die!
It was none other than Im Bonghee swinging her weapon at Youngwoo's neck.
“You……!”
But unlike Bonghee, who was functioning as a mere "saboteur" in this abyss, Youngwoo was the "First Sword" who had grown by overcoming countless trials.
So an attack this shallow was.
‘No need for Swordsmanship aid. I can see it clear as day.’
Youngwoo easily caught Im Bonghee's attack—moving in slow motion to his eyes—with his forehead.
Kwachit!
Her strike failed to pierce the Vanguard's steel plate encasing Youngwoo's head and bounced harmlessly away, and right away, his black sword swept across from the side.
Hwaaaang!
And then something astonishing happened.
Chwaaak!
Along the semicircular arc traced by Youngwoo's black sword, the Dogo logo printed itself like embroidery.
And atop it, Im Bonghee's head, neatly bisected, spun two full rotations.
Plop.
A scene straight out of a movie.
“Huh……?”
For a moment, even Youngwoo held his breath without realizing it.
The super-heavy ashen freaks reinforcing by the thousands every minute, the pain shooting from wounds covering his body, and the urgent breathing of his party members from behind.
The situation was so dire he'd forgotten.
He was the advertising model for the pan-galactic weapons brand Dogo.
The shareholders of Dogo were probably watching this insane scene right now.
-Kraaaah!
-Kill himmm!
Even amid this, ashen freaks were forming another massive wave from the front.
So many that the faint pathway lights illuminating the route were completely blotted out.
“Ugh…….”
Ricardo, who had just dragged a freak off the bonfire, spotted the darkness toward the oarsman rippling entirely and paled in fear.
He realized far more freaks than before were coming.
There were still over a thousand more near the boat, too.
“Ha… Korean! You okay!?”
Seeing even the floor pathway lights completely obscured, Ricardo asked the oarsman.
Then he noticed something off about the oarsman and screamed.
“No, shit! What the hell are you doing, Korean!”
Otavio, who had been swinging his blade frantically with his back to Ricardo, hurriedly turned around.
And there.
“…Gasp?”
The Eastern oarsman was kneeling on the ground out of nowhere.
As if praying to the heavens.
No, anyone could see he was praying to the sky.
He had even clasped his chain-wrapped hands together and was gazing at the pitch-black void.
“Jeong Youngwooooo!”
Realizing the boat had completely stopped, Otavio wore an angry face for the first time since entering the dungeon.
Did gods exist in this godforsaken world?
If they failed this mission, they'd have to spin Russian roulette where one of the three was guaranteed to die. But Otavio had zero intention of leaving his fate to luck.
“You crazy son of a……!”
Just as Otavio was about to curse out the pitiful Eastern oarsman, the chained Youngwoo raised his blood-soaked arms to the sky and shouted.
“This battle is……! Brought to you by the pan-galactic weapons brand Dogo!”
* * *
Was this how Moses felt standing before the pitch-black Red Sea?
Youngwoo was an atheist, but at this moment, he was close to a fanatic.
Because he was proceeding with the unilateral conviction that the heavens—no, Dogo—was watching over him.
He was about to start a Dogo brand ad.
“I am a human of Earth, the strongest in Gyeongbuk and Gangnam! Jeong Youngwoo07……! It's ad time now!”
Youngwoo's arms, thrust high into the void, trembled faintly.
If Dogo didn't answer this call… no, this provocation, all he could do was hope the remaining pathway wasn't long.
He hadn't shown it, but his stamina had been draining rapidly for a while.
Probably from losing too much blood.
But as a "tank," Youngwoo's competence was world-class.
If even he couldn't pull it off, the results would've been the same no matter who held the oar.
It was a difficulty so vicious it felt like a trap designed to kill one of the three participants from the start.
“Dogo……!”
With Youngwoo's final cry, the thousands-strong freak legion approaching under cover of darkness revealed itself in the firelight.
-Kraaaah!
-Kill the oarsman first!
-Oaaargh!
In an instant, the freaks swarmed Youngwoo, piling atop his body layer by layer to form a small mountain.
To the point where even the chain connecting him to the "boat" vanished from sight.
And when that mountain grew too tall to climb, the rest pressed up to the bonfire.
“Ha, fuck.”
Sensing the worst possible end, Ricardo looked at Otavio with a pale face.
He was about to say his final goodbyes.
But Otavio, instead.
“What… what the hell is that.”
Was staring up at the sky in this dire situation.
“What’re you…….”
Ricardo followed the European's gaze upward.
“Guh!”
And soon his eyes went pure white.
Because a laser beam was shooting down from the sky.
Paaaaang!
So packed with energy that the moment the laser appeared, the entire dark area lit up like broad daylight.
“Eek!”
“Uwaaak!”
It wasn't just the two harpooners who shrank back from this overwhelming display of power.
-Hiiik!
-Aaaah!
-W-what is it!
The ashen freaks filling the arena also felt instinctive fear and began scattering in all directions.
Like cockroaches fleeing to dark corners.
Tatat!
Even the freaks piled atop Youngwoo like a mountain tried to flee at that moment.
But from among them, a black blade suddenly thrust up, then swung wide in a diagonal arc, tracing a flashy wedge pattern.
Chwaaak!
“Huaaa!”
It was none other than Gyeongbuk First Sword Jeong Youngwoo07.
The one who had just received Dogo's response and been shown a path to survival.
His improvised ad strategy had worked.
[Dogo] “Selling Out Soon”
<Mission> Survive using the provided equipment.
<Reward> Guaranteed survival
<Special> During this mission, you must provide real-time feedback on the equipment.
<Note> Provided equipment will be reclaimed.
A new Dogo quest had appeared in Youngwoo's vision, and at his feet lay a palm-sized regular dodecahedron that hadn't been there before.
A polyhedron with twelve pentagonal faces.
Shuk.
As Youngwoo picked it up, the laser beaming straight down on him vanished like a lie.
Hwaat!
Then the ashen freaks who had fled the light began emitting vicious auras again.
-It disappeared!
-Now's our chance!
-Q-quick, kill him!
-Hurry……!
Tatatat!
The ashen horde surged back from the darkness.
“…….”
At this, Youngwoo unconsciously gripped the dodecahedron tighter in his hand.
Kududuk.
His fingers pressing on each face sank slightly into the object.
Like buttons.
Chalak.
“Huh.”
A holographic number appeared atop the dodecahedron.
【3】
“Hm?”
【2】
“…Ah.”
【1】
Youngwoo instinctively realized it was a bomb and hurled it into the darkness.
Fling!
【X】
“……!”
If he wasn't seeing things, the dodecahedron had flashed an 'X' last, and right after.
Puuuung!
With a deafening roar that left his ears ringing, the dodecahedron exploded—no, precisely, opened in midair.
And then.
Shwaaaaa!
The ashen freaks in the area—easily over a thousand—were sucked into the black hole hidden inside the dodecahedron.
“Ugh?”
“W-what……?”
Otavio and Ricardo, still standing on the boat, gaped at the unbelievable sight.
They'd thought the Eastern guy had finally lost it yelling nonsense at the sky, but he'd actually received something from above.
A divine weapon capable of clearing the arena in one throw.
“N-no way.”
Did gods really exist in this world too……?
As the two foreigners stared at Youngwoo in awe, the Eastern oarsman soon dragged the boat along, picked up another dodecahedron from the ground, and suddenly looked up at the sky, proclaiming loudly.
“Ah… Ah! Amazing, hyperspace… bomb! The polyhedral structure seems like it’ll fit any hand shape perfectly!”