Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The True Trial
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“Chason, what the hell are you doing?”
“...Just leave Dad alone.”
“There was no musk left in his stomach. But you saw it too, didn’t you? He’s not dead, but he’s not exactly alive either. In fact, you’re the one who can free your father.”
“No...!!! You didn’t drag me here by force just to make me do something like this!!”
Chason’s shout made Woojin’s cheek twitch.
“...Sorry.”
“So... there has to be... another way... Ghk?!”
That was when it happened.
“Duck!”
Woojin slammed down on Chason’s head with all his strength and yanked him toward himself.
Massive Axe Swing
A massive axe barely grazed the spot where Chason had stood.
It was Camillo, the third patriarch.
“A first patriarch ought to know how to wait a little. What impatience...”
Gilbert smirked at Woojin’s words.
“Father...”
Even in this moment of crisis, Hartwin didn’t budge.
Chason stared at him with eyes tangled in resentment and sorrow.
In that instant, Roberto and Flon closed in on Woojin from both sides, thrusting their swords.
Tremendous speed.
Too late to block the blades.
“Hup...!!”
An opaque protective shield materialized around Woojin.
Kwajik—!!
“...!!!”
But in that instant, Camillo’s axe pulverized his shield in a single blow.
-Master!!!!
As the two spirits’ swords aimed to impale Woojin,
Woojin’s skin turned a stony gray.
Kang—! Kakaang—!!!
The altered skin repelled the patriarchs’ strikes.
Kwagagang——!!
As if perfectly synchronized, Setsuna and Luen’s attacks skewered the patriarchs.
-Got ‘em!!
Setsuna clenched her fist and yelled amid the billowing black dust smoke.
“Not yet!!”
But Woojin hurled himself straight into the rising plume.
Kaang—!!!
As he brought his sword down, it clanged against something solid.
“Luen!! Behind him!!!!”
At his shout, Luen glanced toward Gilbert.
There stood Minuel, the 31st patriarch, mid-incantation.
Her pupils gleamed as the bowstring-released arrow rocketed toward Minuel.
Minuel twisted away to evade the arrow.
“Hraaaap!!!”
Power surged into his sword with a crackling...! The barrier blocking it shattered into fragments.
Dragon Heaven (龍天) 1st Gate - Sever
Woojin horizontally swept his blade toward the two patriarchs within the vanished shield.
Seogak—!!!
Lightning crackled as the sword cleaved them both in half at blinding speed.
Fwarrrlk...!!
Flames infused in the blade leaped onto them, erupting in fire.
They groaned in agony but didn’t retreat, lunging with their swords.
Spirit Possession
Attack Power +1.5x for 30 seconds
An orc spirit manifested and faded behind Woojin’s back. He batted away the incoming blades in unison.
The patriarchs reeled from the ferocious force.
“Nothing impressive about this level.”
Camillo slipped between the staggering pair and swung his axe at Woojin.
Woojin’s form blurred, dodging the axe and diving sideways.
Kwang—!!!
Unlike mere acceleration that quickened reactions, the upgraded Chain Strike compensated for evasion and counterstrikes.
Kwagang—!!!
Camillo desperately raised his axe to block, but Woojin—with Swiftness—was a hair faster.
Puk—!!!
The sword stabbed into Camillo’s flank.
Camillo convulsed as if electrocuted by the deeply buried blade.
Fwarrrlk...!!!
Flames erupted from the embedded sword, bursting from within his body.
Woojin twisted the lodged blade deeper amid Camillo’s screams.
Pung...!!
Camillo’s body vanished in a blaze.
Passss...
His axe clattered to the floor and crumbled to ash. The surrounding patriarchs tensed and fell back.
“Chason. Like I said before, I can make them vanish, but I can’t purify them.”
Step— step—.
Woojin advanced on Roberto and Flon.
Their flames had died down—thankfully not vanished, but they looked utterly terrified.
“If you honor your lineage, take up your swords.”
Shing—.
He assumed his stance.
Realizing no retreat, the pair roared like screams and charged Woojin.
Arctic chill flooded the room; the pair froze solid in seconds.
Leaving the frozen duo, Woojin bolted toward Minuel without a backward glance.
Shuuk—!!! Shuk—!!!!
Incoming arrows pulverized the icy pair.
Woojin’s sword plunged into Minuel’s back before she could resist.
Minuel’s spirit dissipated with that lone cry.
“Weak.”
Woojin’s cold assessment after crushing the lineage’s heads.
“Way too weak. All of you.”
The Taikan from the ice cavern had been stronger.
“Why so weak?”
Woojin turned to Chason.
“Because they’re just filler.”
“What...”
“The developer who designed this dungeon has to be a real sadistic prick.”
“No pity, no mercy... Games are meant to be fun, not hand out bullshit trials like this.”
Or was it an AI creation?
“Yeah, that tracks.”
Upon entering the boss room, Woojin had pondered his first mark target.
Situationally, the first patriarch Gilbert made sense.
But battling the spirits revealed the truth.
‘The Black Mist isn’t just for boss hunting.’
The dungeon’s real purpose...
‘Father versus son.’
Kwaaaaa——!!!
Hartwin’s greatsword hurtled at Woojin.
Unlike the others, it moved too fast for the eye to track.
‘Dexterity over 100, huh.’
A bona fide genius.
‘But...!’
Woojin confirmed his shifting stats.
With the rune’s bonus, his Dexterity now topped 100.
+ Trait: Reaction
+ Linked Skill: Piercing Eye
Reaction
Reaction speed to hostile attacks +100% for 5 sec
‘...?!’
Hartwin’s sword trajectory traced shadowy afterimages in Woojin’s vision.
He evaded along that path.
Reaction.
A trait unlocked past level 50 when Dexterity surpassed 100.
Predicts foe attacks, reads trajectories.
From base 20, reaching 100 demanded 14 levels’ worth of points.
Seemingly overpowered, yet heavily restricted.
Post-50, required Dexterity climbs: 120 by 60, 150 at 70.
Dumping points into Dexterity grew burdensome with levels.
Without it, prior investments wasted—most skipped Dexterity entirely.
‘This... is insane?’
Woojin had shared that view.
Tangible stats mattered more.
But experiencing Reaction changed everything.
The world slowed to slo-mo.
Whoosh—!
He bent at the waist, dodging Hartwin’s blade, then lunged forward.
Hwaaaak——!!
Stalled wind lashed his face; the slow world accelerated.
Shaaaak...!!
Clutching the floor one-handed, Woojin slid behind Hartwin.
Hartwin whipped around in panic.
Puk—!!!
Too late.
Woojin drove his sword into Hartwin with everything he had.
“Ah...”
But then, Woojin realized his oversight.
Another with Dexterity over 100.
“...Chason?”
Red blood trickled down his blade instead of spirit smoke.
“Father...”
Pushing out the sword in his gut, Chason staggered in front of Hartwin.
He spread his arms protectively, back to Hartwin.
“Step back.”
“I can’t... let Father die.”
Chrrrrk...!!
Gilbert toed the fallen Seashell Sword toward Chason.
He’d dropped it leaping to shield Hartwin.
His vile smirk—urging the fight—was infuriating.
“...Damn, this game’s masterfully cruel.”
Woojin gnashed his teeth at him.
Almost too lifelike for code.
“Making players feel this utter shit.”
It sparked doubt: Had [Ethan] based it on Woojin’s otherworld?
The sole sender there.
“...Doesn’t matter.”
Focus: Solve the problem at hand.
“Chason, cut the stupid shit.”
“Stupid or not, I have no choice. Watch family die before my eyes? No—kill them myself?”
He shook his head at Woojin’s warning, shouting.
“...I can’t do it!!”
Shaaaak——!!!
Fierce torrents surged along Chason’s blade.
“Can you do it?”
A brutal question.