Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: 39. Sleeping with the Enemy (3)
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The brazier suspended high in the air.
And opposite it, two buttons of unknown purpose.
To figure out exactly what they were, he'd have to reach the brazier first.
‘Whatever it is, I need to light that brazier.’
As a test, Young-woo drew his bow and fired an arrow at the grotesque figures beyond the rectangular entrance.
Pewwoooo!
The arrow shot out with its usual fierce energy, only to explode automatically right in front of the entrance.
Boom!
‘As expected, they’ve blocked easy exploits.’
Just as those things couldn’t cross over here, attacks couldn’t reach the brazier’s area from inside this passage either.
Which meant.
‘Guess I have no choice but to go in and cut them all down.’
Click.
As Young-woo gripped ‘Orphan Slayer’ and advanced toward the entrance, the grotesque figures clustered there widened their eyes and shouted.
“Ooh...!”
“What’s this? He’s alone?”
“Hoh, he’s brave.”
“Came here by himself?”
Even in this moment, a few spat lines as if they’d encountered other challengers before.
In response, Young-woo did something another challenger wouldn’t bother with.
“Has anyone else besides me come here?”
He spoke directly to the grotesque figures.
One of them tapped the transparent barrier blocking the entrance with a finger.
Tap, tap.
“We had a very entertaining rehearsal once. You won’t get through here.”
“We’ve already stopped two Supreme Swordsmen.”
“Alone...? Impossible.”
“This place is your grave.”
“…I see.”
From their lines, Young-woo pieced it together.
This dungeon had been crafted with some kind of difficulty testing.
‘They even ran rehearsals on purpose to fine-tune the difficulty?’
The two “Supreme Swordsmen” they’d stopped were likely mock-ups based on the expected average power of challengers.
In a world where greatswords infused with martial arts existed, that wasn’t anything special.
Therefore.
‘This part isn’t the problem, but the other teams might be in trouble.’
Young-woo finally considered that the distant buttons 1 and 3 might be for helping other teams.
Hadn’t the grotesque figures just said it?
They’d already stopped two Supreme Swordsmen.
Meaning this dungeon was designed impossible to clear with a standard team composition.
So it might be structured for one strong, cooperative team to pull up the others.
‘I need to hurry. No way the other teams are united enough to break through.’
The remaining two teams were Taiwan-Korea and Japan-China.
Taiwan and Korea were fine, but Japan and China were historic enemies—who knew what might happen there.
‘This feels really uneasy.’
With his thoughts sorted, Young-woo charged straight at the grotesque figures.
Kwah-thud!
Their bolder-than-expected entry startled the grotesque figures instead.
“Eek?”
“This bastard!”
“Huh, look at this guy?”
“Block him like you practiced. Let’s see how you defend.”
As Young-woo leaped into the wide entrance and swung the black sword from his waist, its blade extended to five meters in an instant, carving a thick arc.
Kwaaaah!
Dozens of grotesque figures were sliced apart at once, clearing space for Young-woo to advance.
Thud thud thud!
“Out of the way!”
With his pupils glowing gold, Young-woo pushed relentlessly into the space. Only then did the grotesque figures show bewilderment.
They realized the opponent on this first real battlefield was no ordinary Supreme Swordsman.
“Wh-what is this bastard?”
“W-wait.”
Among the mixed-race horde, the few from the Korean Peninsula belatedly recognized his title.
“No way, this is Joseon’s Supreme Swordsman!”
“Joseon...?”
“Where’s that?”
Even those who knew Young-woo’s title didn’t grasp it signified control north of the Peninsula.
But.
“So Joseon means... anyway, monster.”
“Like Britain’s Supreme Swordsman.”
“What...?”
The grotesque figures’ disjointed chatter didn’t last.
Soon their necks were swept by a black arc.
Shwoooo!
With just two swings, Young-woo cleared a five-meter radius cleanly, then leaped toward the distant stone fragments.
Ta-thud!
To drag him down, grotesque figures jumped up with him, only to plummet into the abyss below soon after.
The challenger had leaped much farther than expected.
「Climber」 - Mutated Pants
【Leap distance tripled.】
Shoooo!
Practically flight.
From the entrance, Young-woo arced in a massive parabola, skipping six stone fragments he’d otherwise have to step across one by one.
The grotesque figures guarding the seventh stone fragment panicked.
“Wh-what’s this guy?”
“He’s coming straight here...?”
“Block him! Don’t let him land!”
No matter how good at high jumps, no one could fly.
The grotesque figures cleverly clustered at the edges.
Their plan: shove him into the abyss the moment he landed.
But.
Tdududup!
As the opponent drew his bowstring mid-air before landing, the grotesque figures sensed something wrong.
And indeed.
Pewwoooo!
The fully drawn bowstring snapped back, unleashing a violet explosion on the seventh stone fragment.
Boom!
Doggo’s special explosive arrow.
This blast, which inflicted ether damage, sent every grotesque figure gathered at Young-woo’s landing point flying in all directions.
“Argh!”
“Grah!”
The grotesque figures from the other six fragments, chasing the ferocious challenger, froze.
They’d just seen dozens hurled into the abyss by one arrow.
“Don’t get in my way.”
Shwick.
As Young-woo slung his bow behind him and spoke, the hundreds pursuing him flinched.
“Whoa, whoa.”
“C-calm down.”
But by then, Young-woo was out of their sight.
Kwa-thud!
He’d already leaped high again.
“Huh?”
“When did he get there?”
The grotesque figures looked up, following the soaring challenger.
Then, the ‘Golden Trajectory’—which hadn’t followed immediately but waited—sliced cleanly through their exposed necks.
Shaaa!
This brutal execution was clearly visible to the grotesque figures ‘above’ Young-woo hadn’t reached yet.
“...?”
“What’s coming?”
“A m-monster.”
Finally.
“He’s running!”
One shouted and started fleeing down the stepping stones of stone fragments.
Ta-tat!
From top to bottom.
Abandoning his post.
“Eek!”
“Sp-spare me!”
What started as one deserter snowballed into dozens, then hundreds fleeing.
By the time Young-woo finished leaping and reached the thirteenth stone fragment, none stood in his way.
‘What... you could clear it like this?’
Only seven stone fragments remained ahead.
Yet the lower ones were still noisy; peeking down, he saw the Golden Trajectory dancing upward from below, mercilessly slashing fleeing grotesque figures who’d lost the will to fight.
‘That crazy thing.’
Likely due to the legend sword technique ‘Rohm’s Floor’ programmed into it.
Young-woo started to recall the Golden Trajectory but changed his mind.
‘Wait. Most serving as grotesque figures here are people who died in flesh and vanished, right?’
Like Im Bong-hee, his old dorm roommate.
“...”
His thoughts reaching there, Young-woo left the Golden Trajectory to rampage alone and raised his bow again.
Swoop.
He loosed an arrow at the ashen grotesque figures cowering opposite.
* * *
Kwah-thud!
Young-woo didn’t need to handle every grotesque figure himself.
The legendary two-handed greatsword, fighting like a prisoner, cleaned up those he missed.
Thanks to it, Young-woo just leaped gleefully between stones, firing ether arrows now and then.
‘This was ridiculously easy for me because I far exceed the system’s expected average dungeon challenger...’
Gazing at the now-close brazier, Young-woo thought of Kim Jung-gu, likely surrounded by hundreds by now.
From the 2nd brazier, challengers had to cross 20 stone fragments.
Some gaps were wide, and a few hovered at heights even a top-tier Supreme Swordsman could barely reach at full power.
Even without interference, lacking physical ability could prevent crossing.
‘That’s why they recommend two per passage. One can act as a stepping stone or catch the other in leap sections.’
But the grotesque figures’ interference was a serious threat too.
This dungeon was made to eliminate average Supreme Swordsmen entirely.
‘So that’s what the buttons are for?’
Kwa-thud!
Finally, Young-woo’s foot hit the stone with the brazier. The ground flashed, highlighting the brazier and button device outlines alternately.
Signaling the two devices here.
‘Surprisingly user-friendly once you arrive.’
Young-woo approached the brazier first, his main goal.
As seen earlier, it was unlit, but a torch with blue flames burned beneath.
‘Light it with this and done?’
He immediately thrust the torch into the brazier.
Whoosh!
It blazed blue at once, firing a blue laser at the opposite button device.
The brazier had to be activated first to use the other device.
‘My job here’s done.’
Right on cue, the blood-soaked Golden Trajectory returned, so Young-woo moved to the button device.
Click, click.
A bizarre contraption on a tombstone-like slab, with two buttons labeled 1 and 3.
After receiving the laser, its hologram interface activated.
And it said:
「Choose one of the following three options, and a portal back to the arena will open.」
“Huh? Weren’t there two choices?”
Not quite what he expected.
After reading the guide, three options appeared in sequence.
「Return immediately.」
The cleanest, most desirable choice.
‘But showing the normal one first means...’
The other two were likely for stirring trouble.
And sure enough, absurd options followed.
‘These bastards... figures.’
「1」: Teleport all enemies from Brazier 1 to Brazier 3.
「3」: Teleport all enemies from Brazier 3 to Brazier 1.