Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: 41. Everyone's Greatest Swordsman (8)
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Pewww!
Spotting Dogo's special arrow leaving the bowstring, Young-woo immediately charged forward while nocking another arrow.
Tskrrrk!
He didn't think a single arrow would bring the beast crashing to the ground.
And sure enough.
—How reckless. Such a shallow attack won't work on me.
A low chuckle echoed from beyond the clouds, as if the voice could see the arrow clearly.
However.
Sizzle—Boom!
The moment the arrow pierced into the green clouds and detonated in a burst of psychokinetic energy, the beast showed signs of agitation.
—……!
It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was more than enough to startle the opponent.
'Looks like psychokinetic damage works decently even against dragons.'
Rumble!
Enraged, the dragon unleashed another barrage of lightning and thunder, allowing Young-woo to pinpoint its position beyond the clouds once more.
'That bastard's definitely rattled.'
Young-woo's face lit up with excitement as he kept his eyes fixed on the sky.
Unlike before, he could now confirm the dragon was flying westward.
It had shifted position to brace for his next attack.
"Stay right there! You still don't even know what Dogo is!"
Pewww!
As Young-woo unleashed a flurry of arrows into the air like a bird hunter on the chase, a thunderous voice boomed from above.
—What the hell is this Dogo?!
An ominous aura stirred from within the green clouds.
Kwaaa!
Black poison meteors poured down like rain, steeped in deadly venom.
Poison Meteor, that was.
"No, this psycho!"
Even Young-woo hadn't anticipated an attack on this scale, and the 'Joseon Swordsmanship' he had equipped offered no holographic evasion guide.
Regional sword arts couldn't analyze evasion for such all-encompassing magic attacks.
'God, you want me to dodge this purely on physicals?'
Boosting his senses right before the fight had been a stroke of genius.
Young-woo was already weaving past the third meteor by a hair's breadth.
'No wonder a mere mutant showed up with top-tier fanfare.'
This was a far cry from the old days of overwhelming mutants with brute force.
But his sponsor 「Dogo」 cheered him on amid the chaos.
Ping!
[Dogo] “Dragon Slayer”
<Mission> Teach Chaebol Chairman-Im Kwang-ho what Dogo is.
<Reward> 5 million karma.
<Special> Pierce the dragon's heart with Sasenga or White Barrage.
Via a new Dogo quest.
"Ah, Chairman...!"
Young-woo's eyes welled with emotion as he gazed at the green sky—no, beyond it.
The chairman and shareholders were watching the battle, just as expected.
And even.
<Special> Pierce the dragon's heart with Sasenga or White Barrage.
In Young-woo's mind, this was how to kill the dragon.
Dogo had given a hint disguised as a quest.
'Looks like just chopping off the head won't cut it.'
Moreover.
'Sasenga or White Barrage...'
It meant to kill it with gear tied to Dogo.
"Quest accepted."
With money on the line, Young-woo's mind kicked into overdrive.
Huff!
While waiting for the next lightning strike to locate the dragon, he suddenly pulled a tiny cat from his pocket.
「Frightened Cat」 - Narrative Compass
【Points toward threatening targets.】
【Strength +25% when bleeding.】
As expected, the 'Frightened Cat' had its eyes wide open, its pupils slowly shifting toward somewhere southwest.
'Gotcha.'
The direction it stared was exactly where the dragon was flying.
Of course, venomous meteors still rained from above, so he couldn't fire multiple shots.
He'd be lucky to squeeze in one amid the gaps.
So Young-woo.
—You crazy fuck!
—Why's he attacking us too...?
—What, no sense of camaraderie?
Turned his eyes toward the Gangbuk trio mutants, who were just as busy dodging meteors.
If they attacked him, he'd pull in a flood of senses, boosting his arrow power.
「White Barrage」 - Narrative Bow
【Sense stats apply to arrow power.】
【Power increases with arrow range.】
'And if I layer on bleed...'
That should send the beast plummeting, Young-woo was sure.
If even that firepower got no reaction, the fight was lost.
Kwa!
He acted at once.
Tskrrrk!
This time, not at the dragon—but at the three mutants across the way.
Pewww!
Unlike the dragon high above, the mutants didn't sense the stealth arrow in time, and so.
Boom!
Only after the psychokinetic blast erupted at their feet did they realize the Joseon Supreme Swordsman was targeting them too.
—No way, is he nuts?
—Why rush his own death?
—Doesn't he know not to stretch the front line?
As the three mutants glared at Young-woo, golden flashes brought a massive sense influx, as expected.
「Sense stat temporarily rises from 3,300 to 5,246.」
「Sense stat temporarily rises from 5,246 to 7,334.」
「Sense stat temporarily rises from 7,334 to 9,443.」
Senses broke past 9,000 in a flash.
And this was before stealing the dragon's senses.
Shiii!
The venom meteors kept falling relentlessly.
It delayed the mutants' charge, but Young-woo couldn't easily line up a clean shot on the dragon above the clouds either.
-Nyaang.
Then, at last, the 'Frightened Cat' let out a tiny mew and turned southeast.
The dragon was finally wheeling back around from the outskirts of Gwangjin-gu.
'Now.'
Young-woo slashed his thigh with Sasenga to draw blood, then immediately drew the bowstring, aiming where the dragon would fly.
Even if a meteor hit him, he'd tank it and fire.
Tskrrrrk!
The string stretched taut, as far as it could go.
And then.
Twang!
Releasing the string, a silver-white arrow surged forward from the bow, brimming with immense energy.
Quiaaa!
Countless Dogo emblems trailed in its wake like feathers.
"Ah... no, that's not a stealth arrow anymore."
Before Young-woo could complain, the arrow pierced the sky in a blink, slicing through the clouds and exploding.
Boom!
Then.
Baaaaang...!
A massive golden fanfare blared like a grand instrument, and the venom meteors plummeting from the sky evaporated in an instant.
Swoosh.
—Huh?
—What the—?
The dragon's spell cut off.
And then.
Whoosh!
A huge gust whipped up from afar, revealing an emerald-scaled dragon crashing to the ground.
"……!"
Wreathed in purple smoke.
But with the area still engulfed in a toxic storm, it didn't seem dead.
'Ground phase now?'
Phase 2, in game terms.
Kuuung!
A massive boom erupted from the crash site, and the beast soon rose.
Kwaaaa...!
Even just standing unleashed overwhelming pressure. The 5th-day high-risk mutant was.
[Chaebol Chairman-Im Kwang-ho]
Exactly as listed in the Dogo quest.
Im Kwang-ho.
Chairman of Hanbo Group, ranked 8th in Korea's business world.
Famous for his fiery temper and the urban legend of mysterious baseball bats cluttering his office—three or four at a time.
A man constantly in scandals for cursing and assault, but oddly quiet before the reset. Probably got judged by public opinion without needing the news.
'From what I know, his sons are no small-time thugs either... but not dragon material?'
For Seoul's first dragon, this one packed serious weight, leaving Young-woo eyeing Im Kwang-ho's name tag skeptically.
Across the way, Im Kwang-ho, spotting the 'General (將)' mark over Young-woo's head, spoke in surprise.
—...Seoul's more prepared than I thought.
Meaning the rival Seoul had put up was far stronger than expected.
"......"
Young-woo slung his bow over his shoulder and gripped Sasenga in his right hand.
Step.
He took a big stride toward the grounded dragon.
Clank!
"Why not fly back up?"
At Young-woo's question, Im Kwang-ho glared with glowing yellow pupils.
—Because you shattered my wings. Now I have to kill you—the one with the mark—to fly again.
True to his hot-blooded reputation, the chairman didn't bother lying.
Young-woo finally learned how dragon fights worked.
'Build up enough damage midair to force it down. From the dragon's view, slay the marked rival to regain flight. First mutant with this gimmick.'
This wouldn't be his last dragon fight.
His mother and uncle were set to return as dragons someday.
So this battle was practice for facing family.
"Then since your feet are on the ground now, no more weird tricks like before."
Young-woo gestured at the green sky that had rained meteors moments ago. Im Kwang-ho slowly swished his massive tail.
—Ha, you think you stand a chance?
With those words, ferocious auras gathered behind Young-woo.
"......"
Turning silently, he saw the Gangbuk trio mutants poised to charge.
From their perspective, they had no choice but to side with fellow mutant Im Kwang-ho over the world's residents who'd sniped them.
Of course, Im Kwang-ho wasn't banking solely on those three.
—Got any other tricks? If that's all you've shown, you'll die here today.
Wondering if Young-woo truly had more, Im Kwang-ho began glowing from both front paws.
Whatever it was, another spell like the meteor shower.
But then, from Young-woo's side.
Chit, chit!
"Huh?"
—......?
Popu Tenta, who'd stayed hidden and silent till now, waddled out trumpet in... something.
-Bam!
"What... the hell, all of a sudden."
This was the dragon showdown.
Young-woo hadn't expected much from the aggressive trumpet player Popu Tenta.
But Popu apparently thought he could contribute, shoving a hand into his bulging belly to pull out a golden trumpet.
Then.
-Bwaaaaa!
A horrific blare with zero melody.
"Ugh!"
Noise. Not music—pure noise.
Even the Joseon Supreme Swordsman felt his temper flare.
And so.
Swoosh...!
The glow from Im Kwang-ho's paws vanished the instant Popu Tenta's "performance" began.
"Huh?"
—What?
—Huh, what is it.
—Yeah......?
Even the mutants waiting to charge were stunned.
Im Kwang-ho glanced between his paws, then jabbed a long claw at Popu Tenta with a sharp voice.
—Kill that bastard first! He's blocking my magic...!