Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 018
Chapter Title: The End of the Tutorial (5)
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“...”
A single goblin lay collapsed beneath the torches spaced out like streetlights.
Whether it was knocked out or dead, it didn't so much as twitch. But before Lee Sang-hyun could even check its condition, he realized it was a trap.
Ninety-seven.
More precisely, he sensed it. Through the damp moisture permeating the dungeon's depths.
I'll kill them all.
As sharp killing intent flared within him, Lee Sang-hyun's body shot forward.
“?!!”
It was an insane speed.
Impossible to follow with the naked eye—it even felt like teleportation. By the time the goblins spotted him, several were already down.
“Kieeeek!!”
“Kyaaak!!”
Realizing their trap had been seen through, the goblins charged en masse, relying on sheer numbers.
Whoosh! Thud thud thud!
From walls, ceiling, and floor, hidden ones poked their heads out and thrust short spears.
Dozens of spear tips gleamed, ready to impale anyone in their path.
Slow.
But none touched Lee Sang-hyun. Not a single spear tip even grazed him—they merely sliced empty air.
Swoosh!
His counterattack was immediate. Dodging instinctively, he spun his body and swung his sword.
“...Ki... ee... eek...?”
Three airborne goblins split in half midair. Before their corpses hit the ground, another goblin's head cracked open.
“Kiaaaak!!”
“Kyaaaak!!”
Rage-filled shrieks shook the dungeon.
But Lee Sang-hyun didn't waver in the slightest. Maintaining steady breaths, he cleaved through the goblins.
Slash!
“Kiiik...!”
The goblins' attacks yielded nothing—empty swings every time.
Swish!
Right then, a goblin that had been biding its time targeted his back. A blind-side ambush no one without eyes in the back of their head could dodge.
Heh heh!
It was a perfect opportunity, bought with the lives of over a dozen kin.
Yet before the spear tip could pierce his skin, the goblin's vision flipped upside down.
“??”
It couldn't comprehend what happened. Only upon seeing its own body did realization dawn.
“...”
Its head had been severed.
That was the end for the goblin at his rear. The others followed suit.
“Ki... ee... eek...!”
“Kiaak...!”
Slash!!
Lee Sang-hyun wove through them, slashing wildly. He evaded rear attacks without looking, sometimes smashing heads barehanded.
Krunch!
It was merciless slaughter, the act of a berserker incarnate.
Yet his heart didn't blaze. It remained still as a calm lake, his blood flowing normally instead of raging like a wild stallion.
His eyes, which should have burned red with bloodlust, retained their original glint.
Twelve left now.
His reason, which should have been consumed by slaughter instinct, lost none of its clarity. Perfectly rational.
Krunch!
Because of that, the demon had no choice but to stay silent. It could only watch, mouth shut.
One left.
Having cut down ninety-six, Lee Sang-hyun eyed the final goblin.
“Ki, kiiiii...!!”
The last one turned tail in terror. Or tried to.
Slash!
Its head flew before two steps. Its body toppled slowly.
Thud.
That marked the end of the ninety-seventh goblin.
“Took about a minute.”
Lee Sang-hyun gauged the elapsed time as he walked on.
Even after felling ninety-seven goblins, his heart didn't race madly. It stayed as calm as before the fight.
“Pathetic.”
The torches faded like streetlights, replaced by pitch-black darkness.
“...”
The darkness was sinister and profound, obscuring even a foot ahead. Stepping into it felt like certain no-return.
Yet Lee Sang-hyun found his path through the dungeon's pervasive moisture.
Just like infrared.
The moisture revealed not just the layout but the airflow too, sparing him a plunge into a massive pit ahead.
Would've fallen right in without seeing it.
He leaped the gaping hole, landing opposite. Then scanned ahead.
Something... there.
Not far off, something lurked.
Not one, but many. Hundreds at least—the number was ominous.
I'll find out when I get there.
Lee Sang-hyun didn't overthink. He'd learn upon clash. He advanced.
Moments later, he spotted the cave dwellers—their eyes degenerated from eons in captivity.
Kieeeek!!
Their cracked, shattered screams grated like nails on glass—utterly horrific.
Yet pitiable too. Sorrow? Something like that hid within.
No need to ask whom. Lee Sang-hyun understood instantly.
To these monsters—the imprisoned residents lingering endlessly without death—grant rest.
So he resolved to give it to every last one.
Blind in darkness, their noses and ears had hypertrophied instead. To sniff out even revolting bugs for sustenance.
Sniff! Sniiiiif!
The cave dwellers caught Lee Sang-hyun's scent. Heard his pounding heart.
Kiaaaak!!
All charged him. To devour living meat before another claimed it—even a scrap more.
Rumble rumble!!
For Lee Sang-hyun, tasked with granting them eternal rest, it was convenient.
No need to hunt them down one by one.
Hundreds... no, thousands?
But their numbers were overwhelming. He'd guessed a few hundred max—over a thousand at least.
Thousands, huh.
Yet Lee Sang-hyun felt no fear. An chance to test his awakened power? He welcomed it.
This'll be fun.
Crunch crunch rumble!
Clinging to walls and ceiling, crawling forth—they were disgustingly creepy.
But Lee Sang-hyun remained unshaken, calmly regulating his breath.
Then he leaped.
Here we go.
Kicking off, his body launched forward. The 50-meter gap shrank to 1 meter in a second.
Swoosh!
His sword arm moved crudely—brutishly violent.
Slash!!
First strike severed three cave dwellers. Second took four, third five.
Zing?!
Ceiling crawlers leaped at him, mobbing to devour. But Super Sense caught it.
Lee Sang-hyun didn't retreat.
He charged ahead, shoving back the onrushing horde.
“Kiek?! Kieeek...!”
By numbers alone, their wave should've swallowed him. Yet he pushed through.
Krunch!!
Impossible normally. Overwhelming power made it real.
Faster!!
No room for slacking. Even weaker than goblins, a thousand-plus wasn't trivial.
One pause, and he'd be swarmed and eaten.
“Kieeeek!!”
Lee Sang-hyun swung and swung his sword.
Tremendous force split bodies in two, shattered them, rent them, crushed them.
His heart pounded several times fiercer, pumping hot blood everywhere.
Thump...!
But his mind stayed cool. Embraced calm reason, never raging. Moved with utter rationality.
A bit more...!!
Conversely, the cave dwellers' coordination worsened. Covered in their blood, distinctions blurred.
“Kiek? Kieeek!”
Their noses couldn't tell foe from kin.
All smelled the same. Faint traces lingered, but not enough to sort.
Chaos erupted—they even attacked their own.
Kak! Kakaaaak!!
Lee Sang-hyun tore through the fray.
Krunch! Crunch! Kraunch!
He took minor wounds but ignored them, trusting Super Regeneration to push harder.
“Kiek! Kieeek!!”
Screams and roars filled the air. Chunks of flesh, sticky blood, entrails splattered everywhere.
Blind cave dwellers forgot their goal, gorging on scattered meat.
...Just instinct left.
Pitying them, Lee Sang-hyun stayed vigilant. Slashed relentlessly.
Slash!!
Their numbers dwindled fast. From thousands mere minutes ago to hundreds now.
“Kek! Kek!!”
Mouths full of thick blood and chunks, yet unsatisfied.
“Kiaaaak!!”
They craved more flesh and blood—as always.
...I'll grant you rest.
Lee Sang-hyun cleaved onward.
At last, the thousands of cave dwellers lay fallen. None survived.
“...”
The battlefield evoked "mountains of corpses, seas of blood"—sticky with gore and bodies.
Lee Sang-hyun's form was no exception, caked in their flesh and blood.
...Nasty.
He stripped it off. Manipulated moisture in the sticky blood to repel it from his skin.
...Good thing I can't see it.
Cave dweller corpses were invisible.
Moisture confirmed their presence clearly, but not visually—like sensing puddles.
Even after this frenzy, still calm. Did absorbing the water's essence lift the blood curse?
Why hadn't slaughtering thousands driven him mad? The water's origin wielding special power?
Lee Sang-hyun probed the reason. Or tried to.
“Ki... ee... e... ek...!!”
If not for the distant cave dweller roars.
...More left?
No time for idle thoughts. Sighing, he pressed on.
Save the trivial worries. Right now, it's about granting rest, not pondering.
His briefly lax mindset sharpened. He gripped his sword tight once more.
“Kiaaaaa...!!”
Thousands again.
Not hundreds—thousands.
I'll kill them all... Grant you rest.
Lee Sang-hyun charged forward.