Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Evolution is on the Horizon
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Holding his sword with a short grip, Lee Shin lowered his stance and focused solely on building stacks.
Meaningful attacks were impossible until he reached the maximum stack count, so he resorted to quick hit-and-run strikes to rapidly increase his combo.
[The golem's tough hide reduces damage.]
[Damage absorbed.]
[Damage absorbed.]
[Damage…]
[Combo stack reaches 66!]
[Combo stack reaches 78…]
As a result, the stacks built up at a terrifyingly fast pace, and before long, they reached their maximum.
[Consecutive Attacks!]
[Combo stack has reached 100.]
[Entering Awakened state!]
[Attack Power +550%]
A staggering 550% increase!
Considering how difficult it was to build stacks, the low base attack power of the Silver Thorn (99), and the need to constantly move to maintain them, it was an immense buff.
“Hoo.”
Now, it was time to clean house.
After a short exhale, Lee Shin readjusted his grip, holding the sword long once more.
When he looked up, he saw the golems, thoroughly agitated by his evasive maneuvers, charging toward him.
*Thump!*
Lee Shin lightly kicked off the ground.
Simultaneously, the golems' attacks rained down from all sides.
“Intruder!”
“You will not leave here alive!”
“……”
The sight of massive bludgeons rushing in from every visible direction was intimidating in itself.
No, it wasn't just intimidating to look at; getting hit would likely mean a quick trip to the grave.
Lee Shin's armor was light, but it wasn't particularly sturdy.
A direct hit would mean a serious injury at a minimum, and if he allowed a follow-up combo, it would be instant death.
But Lee Shin's courage had long surpassed ordinary levels.
Instead of retreating, he trusted his physical prowess and charged forward.
-Charge.
*Tap, tap!*
Using the double dash from his Charge skill, Lee Shin lightly sidestepped the foremost golem and landed the first strike of his Deep Cut skill.
It was less for the damage and more for the additional effect that followed.
*Clang!*
[Your attack has landed.]
[Attack Power and Movement Speed increased for 3 seconds.]
After the brief message, Lee Shin felt his body grow lighter.
Although the effect lasted for a mere three seconds, in a fast-paced battle like this, three seconds was more than enough time.
Lee Shin used his increased movement speed to dodge the subsequent golem attacks, weaving deeper into their ranks.
-Critical Burst.
And an AoE skill in the heart of the enemy formation.
With the 550% attack power buff, Jeong Yu-ra's buffs and blessings, and the 3-second attack power increase from Deep Cut, the damage from a fully stacked Critical Burst was colossal.
Even more so.
[Incarnation of Malice effect activates!]
The Incarnation of Malice had even activated, defying its low probability.
Damage that transcended the limits of his level was calculated, and as Lee Shin swung his sword, a tremendous shockwave swept through the area.
*BOOOOOOM!!!!!*
The two golems closest to Lee Shin were instantly shattered, their remains scattering into the air. The others didn't fare much better.
They were still alive since their cores hadn't been directly struck, but each was missing an arm or a leg.
Their outer shells, of course, had been completely torn away.
Lee Shin thought to himself.
‘As expected, the damage is more than enough.’
If even the 100-stack damage hadn't been enough to break through, it would have been a major setback for his plan, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
This meant he could clear the dungeon without borrowing the strength of Gillaim or Cedric.
In other words, he could monopolize the experience points.
And raise the grade of his tentacle while he was at it.
‘…Come to think of it, the tentacle is still D-grade. Do summons normally level up this slowly?’
[The Ninety-Ninth Leg of a Forgotten God.]
Grade: D (Growth-type)
It felt like months since he had acquired it, yet its grade remained unchanged.
Considering that lower-grade beings usually grow faster, it was a rather disappointing result.
‘…No, wait. Could it be the opposite?’
The fact that its evolution was as slow as a B or C-grade summon despite being D-grade could mean that its potential was that much higher.
Of course, just looking at its wriggling form, it was hard to imagine…
But it was a special reward, wasn't it?
If he kept raising it, it was bound to have some outstanding feature.
*Slice!*
Lee Shin cut down the remaining golems.
They were already staggering with much of their outer shells gone, so finishing them off wasn't difficult.
Lee Shin’s sword passed through the golems’ torsos as if slicing through tofu.
*Thud.*
[You have defeated the golem pack.]
[You have gained experience.]
[Level up!]
[You have acquired gold.]
[You have acquired 27 Mineral Fragments.]
Mineral Fragment
• A mineral composed of various metals, imbued with the mysterious power of golems. Through smelting, there is a low chance of obtaining rare metals.
[Awakened state has been deactivated.]
[Combo stacks have been reset.]
“Hmm…”
As he was picking up the items and miscellaneous drops, the last message made Lee Shin narrow his eyes.
After all the effort he put into building the stacks, this meant he would have to do the same thing all over again.
Of course, it wasn't a difficult process for him, but it was a matter of time efficiency. This was too much of a waste.
He had the dungeon practically to himself and could take his time, but Lee Shin couldn't tolerate such an inefficient process.
Pondering a solution, Lee Shin called over Gillaim.
“Yes?”
“I need you to lure some over.”
“Lure them…”
This was the only way to prevent his stacks from breaking in between.
Gillaim asked.
“How many should I bring?”
“As many as possible.”
“Won't that be dangerous for you?”
“You just saw. Ten or twenty, it's all the same. It doesn't matter.”
“…You have a point. Understood.”
***
The first time the Black Tiger Guild entered <The Gloomy Underground Dungeon> was two months ago.
It happened by chance.
[Unidentified dungeon discovered.]
“Huh?”
A user had stumbled upon the dungeon entrance while hunting in the field.
The news quickly spread throughout the territory and reached the ears of the Black Tiger Guild's executives.
Dokgo, who was focused on expanding the guild at the time, said as soon as he heard the news.
‘This… let's take it!’
He saw it as an excellent source of funding for the guild, which was in the middle of an aggressive recruitment drive.
Naturally, there would be backlash from the local players, but that didn't matter.
There were no guilds in the vicinity larger than the Black Tiger Guild, after all.
His thinking was that if they resisted, he would just crush them with force.
‘Everyone, get out!’
‘From today on, this place is under the control of the Black Tiger Guild!’
‘If you want to enter, pay a toll!’
Thus began their control.
There was resistance, of course, but as expected, they were able to suppress it with force.
Thanks to their regular tax payments, the NPCs didn't interfere with their control either.
In any case, after completely subduing the players, the Black Tiger Guild began to explore the dungeon in earnest.
They were aiming for the first-clear reward.
However, their progress hit a wall much sooner than expected.
‘This place… is bigger than I thought.’
‘These golems aren't easy.’
‘And it seems to have quite a few floors…’
The dungeon's environment was far harsher than they had anticipated.
The golems' defense was so strong that most attacks couldn't penetrate it, and their numbers were staggering.
To make matters worse, the deeper they went, the stronger and more numerous the golems became, forcing Dokgo to assign more personnel.
‘For the time being, we focus on the dungeon!’
And so, over a hundred members were mobilized.
Having been involved in the entire process of conquering the dungeon, Dokgo had initially scoffed at Lee Shin's words.
‘You're going with just this many people?’
‘Why? You don't think we can do it?’
‘…….’
He hadn't answered, but honestly, he thought it was ridiculous.
He knew from the confrontation at the dungeon entrance that his opponent was a skilled player, but this was on another level.
‘It's such a pain to kill even one golem.’
Not only were the golems highly defensive, but their single-hit attack power was also immense.
A direct hit was powerful enough to kill a player in one shot.
When dozens of such creatures swarmed at once, it was a catastrophe.
Therefore, to take down a single golem, the Black Tiger Guild members had a rogue lure one away from the pack.
Then, a dozen guild members would swarm the isolated golem to take it down.
They needed a tank to withstand the golem's powerful attacks, a healer to keep the tank alive, and, most importantly, that many people to deal enough damage.
A golem with an intact core would automatically regenerate its wounds over time.
Mediocre damage couldn't keep up with the golem's self-healing, so they had no choice but to commit that many people.
This was Dokgo's common sense.
No, it was the common sense of everyone who had participated in the dungeon conquest.
And yet…
“…Gasp!”
*Boom! Cra-crack!!!*
The golems fell before Lee Shin's sword like autumn leaves in the wind.
That alone was astonishing.
*Slice!*
The sight of their tough bodies being sliced apart like tofu was surreal.
It was the moment Dokgo's deeply-rooted common sense shattered into pieces.
*Aren't these the same red golems we fought?*
*They're not supposed to be this easy to kill, are they?*
‘Huh?’
His legs gave out, and Dokgo could only sit there, blankly watching Lee Shin fight.
Lee Shin was single-handedly slaughtering dozens of the creatures that had taken scores of Black Tiger Guild members to lure out and kill one by one.
This was so incredible it was awe-inspiring, yet his opponent seemed to have energy to spare, ordering his subordinate to keep luring more golems.
And then he would slaughter the newly lured golems just as quickly.
Of course, someone was providing timely buffs and curses from behind while supporting with musket fire, but it was still just as astonishing.
Anyone could see that the influence of the other two was relatively minor. They were, quite literally, ‘support’—nothing more, nothing less.
‘What… is this?’
Dokgo's mouth hung open.
It was so incredible it was frightening. *Is that really the same kind of human as me?*
*Impossible.*
The opponent's movements, devoid of a single shred of humanity, naturally made Dokgo shake his head.
Dokgo muttered to himself.
‘…This absolute madman.’
It was the highest form of praise a gamer could offer.
From that moment on, the last speck of desire for revenge against Lee Shin that remained in Dokgo vanished completely.
Revenge was the last thing on his mind; he had learned the painful lesson that this was an opponent he should never, ever cross.
***
*CRASH!!*
[You have defeated the golem pack.]
[You have gained experience…]
[You have acquired an item…]
[……]
[Minimap updated.]
[Dungeon Floor 8 progress has reached 100%!]
“Hoo.”
The complete conquest of the 8th floor was achieved quickly.
It was the result of mob-hunting dozens of them at a time.
Taking a short break, Lee Shin sat down and checked his status window.
Lee Shin
• Level: 191
• Class: Salseong
• HP: 27,700 • MP: 3,300
• Strength: 811 • Agility: 2,444
• Stamina: 301 • Wisdom: 101
• Unassigned Stats: 30
• Killing Intent: 770
• Fame: 14,500
• Notoriety: 1,222,700
‘I leveled up three times.’
Considering his current level, it was a massive gain in a short period.
However, in the grand scheme of things, it was still far from enough.
His ultimate goal, after all, was the celestial realm.
With current rankers rumored to be in the high 200s, he needed to reach at least the mid-to-late 200s to stand on equal footing with them.
‘It probably won't happen in the short term… I'll have to wait until the semester ends.’
It couldn't be helped.
Compared to other rankers, Lee Shin had a fundamentally different amount of absolute time he could invest in the game.
Licking his lips, Lee Shin closed the status window and checked the messages that had piled up during the hunt.
[You have acquired a Gold Pouch.]
[You have acquired a Gold Pouch.]
[You have acquired an item.]
[Your familiar is ready to evolve.]
[You have acquired an item.]
[You have acquired an item……]
“…Hm?”
Scrolling down through the log, Lee Shin scrolled back up.
*Did I just see something?*
[Your familiar, <The Ninety-Ninth Leg of a Forgotten God>, has consumed enough and is now ready to evolve.]
“…!”
[Gold is required for the familiar's evolution.]
[Due to the unique skill, <Gluttony>, the stats gained upon evolution will be proportional to the gold offered as a sacrifice.]
[You can spend a minimum of 777 gold and a maximum of 7,777,777 gold.]