Right There, Watching It All

Kim Heeyeon, who had watched the whole thing unfold right there in front of her, let her mouth fall open.

This can't be real……. How did he do that alone?

She knew perfectly well that the ones who had stood against Yujun were no ragtag pack of nobodies. And yet he had put every last one of them down by himself?

Yujun had killed the three players easily, without so much as exerting himself. Fights between players bred no end of variables; with so many abilities flying back and forth, it could hardly be otherwise. This battle, though, had ended before a single variable ever had the chance to appear. In a word, it had been overwhelming.

That man. What in the world is he?

Kim Heeyeon let out a sigh of relief. That she was still alive came as close to heaven's own luck as anything could. The stranger who had happened to find her wasn't even a particularly bad person — and he was a powerhouse, strong enough to dispose of three vicious players without breaking a sweat.

I can't call it anything but luck…….

She drew closer to Yujun.

"Thank you, truly. If you hadn't pulled me out of there just now, I would have……."

At her words, Yujun nodded and spoke.

"Besides those three, was there anyone else with them?"

"There wasn't…… but you never know. They might have contacted their guild."

"Ah. That Golden Lion thing, or whatever it was?"

"Yes."

"They won't have called. Unless their loyalty to the guild had reached some absolute extreme, there's no way they would have gone around blabbing the location of a precious hidden dungeon like this. And even if they did, it wouldn't matter much."

"I see. Ah……."

Kim Heeyeon hesitated for a long moment.

"Would it be all right if I came along with you?"

The words left her with difficulty. Yujun made a show of thinking it over.

Should be fine. I saved her in the first place so I could make use of Dungeon Search.

He had been meaning to get on friendly terms with Kim Heeyeon anyway.

I just have to keep her out of the boss room.

He made his decision. Once the thought was settled, Yujun nodded.

"Let's go together."

"Really? Thank you!"

Yujun and Kim Heeyeon walked straight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on toward the boss room. The second path had been the same, but the first was thick with chimera as well, which was surely why those players had found it so hard to push ahead. Yujun, by contrast, cut and stabbed his way through them, advancing at a swift pace. The rise in his stats, and the strength that had come with it, was nothing to dismiss. More than anything, growing used to the way the chimera fought had made an enormous difference.

And though he didn't know it himself, Yujun possessed a rather remarkable talent for combat. For a man who had never once been in a fight in his life, adapting to a battle this hair-raising was no easy thing at all. Blood sprayed. Blades, and long, sharp claws, lay in wait for his life at every turn. Even so, he aimed for nothing but the chimera's weak points, and he did it with the most efficient movements possible. That, plainly and simply, was Yujun's talent.

It wasn't even like this when he fought those players earlier.

Watching from behind, Kim Heeyeon was thoroughly stunned. Yujun's true worth showed itself properly only when he faced the chimera.

She was a second-year player. With no combat ability of her own she had remained stuck on the third floor, but moving through one party after another had let her see plenty of people with talent. There was a saying that you could tell a promising tree from its very first leaves. Those who were truly exceptional stood out at once, like an awl poking through a pocket, and grew strong just as quickly.

Honestly, I can't understand why someone like him is still on the third floor…….

Again and again, the chimera seemed to throw their own bodies onto the sword Yujun swung, and the blade sheared through them with a wet, ripping sound. Kim Heeyeon could only marvel.

So that's what a real genius looks like.

Envy rose in her, and jealousy with it. At the same time, respect welled up, quick and irrepressible.

A person like that saved me.

This was a hidden dungeon. An ordinary player, greedy to keep the rewards for himself, would have ignored her and walked on, or put her down for good just to be certain. But he was different. Not a hero…… not quite that far. Still, he seemed like a decent person.

I have to repay this kindness, no matter what. Whether I can actually be of any help, I really don't know…….

Unaware of the ulterior motive behind Yujun's kindness, Kim Heeyeon could think nothing else.

Yujun looked at the level written across his status window and smiled, thoroughly pleased with himself.

Level 56 already.

Once he had passed 50, the pace at which his level rose had slowed compared to before. Even so, it was hardly slow, and he was satisfied. Levels, as a rule, were never this easy to raise. The speed he was seeing now was unprecedented.

He cut down every chimera that rushed him until he reached the boss room, and there, before the doors, Yujun came to a dead stop.

"You don't know what's in here, do you?"

"No. The chimera on the first path were moving around the clock, so neither I nor those three from earlier could reach the boss room — we couldn't even get a look at it."

Yujun nodded. He still had stamina to spare. Whenever he started to tire, his level went up.

My gear is as good as it's going to get right now……. No reason to dawdle.

He set his hands to the great doors of the boss room at once. Solid and thick, the iron began to give, slowly.

"Nngh……."

Kim Heeyeon pressed herself flat against the door and pushed with both hands as well. With a heavy, grinding rumble, the doors swung wide, and a blast of searing heat washed over Yujun's body.

He swept his gaze across the boss room. The ceiling was carved in relief with images he couldn't identify, and tall pillars rose to hold it up, with an altar waiting at the top of a flight of stairs. It was a place that sat poorly with a dungeon called an alchemist's laboratory.

This is the boss room, right?

The skeletal knight seated in the chair upon the altar opened his eyes. Crimson light swept the surroundings.

At the hologram window floating above the skeletal knight's head, Yujun let out a sigh of relief.

Not a Death Knight. Thank goodness.

An ordinary Death Knight's level shot well past 200. If something like that had appeared here, it would have been no different from a total collapse of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠balance.

"I'll handle this one alone. Wait outside."

"All right."

Kim Heeyeon knew full well she would be of no help, so she obeyed without a word of complaint.

Yujun turned his head and looked at Paranet, the dungeon boss.

An alchemist who tried to become a Death Knight…….

He called to mind the world of the game War of the Gods. A Death Knight was what a noble knight became when a high-level lich woke him from death. For an alchemist to try to become one was absurd on its face. He could only have ended up an Incomplete Death Knight.

"Hoho…… it has been a truly long age since last I beheld a living human."

Paranet's voice was ghastly. Eerie enough, just to hear it, to raise goosebumps.

A skeleton made of nothing but bones, talking. That is a little strange.

In the game, all he had ever had to do was read whatever the text laid out for him. Paranet was different from zombies and skeletons. The presence rolling off him was savage beyond any comparison with things of that sort.

Hidden dungeon or ordinary dungeon, almost nobody clears one alone. I'm a little nervous.

Even at the same level, a boss had an entirely different health pool. Its skills were more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠powerful, and more varied. Above all, its intelligence was high. That was the hallmark of named monsters and boss monsters alike.

Let's see whether that holds true in reality as well.

Sword in hand, Yujun approached the gaunt skeletal knight.

"You draw near me, and without so much as a shred of fear."

Bone struck bone, and the clatter rang out unusually loud.

"Foolish, human! A mere thing still living, and you would stand before me — I, who have seen clear through to what lies beyond death itself……."

"Yap, yap, yap…… you sure do love to hear yourself talk."

"Wh-what!"

"Come at me."

Yujun's confidence had reached its peak. No matter what some unimpressive skeletal knight had to say, there was no way it would scare him.

"C-come one step closer, and your life shall hang in the balance."

"……."

Yujun did not stop walking.

"I told you it is perilous! Do you truly wish to die!"

"……."

"Y-you……! Die!"

All at once, the Incomplete Death Knight Paranet hurled a flask at Yujun. It traced an arc and dropped nearby, and from around the shattered glass a purple poisonous smoke began to rise. Yujun flung his body sideways in a hurry.

Did I get poisoned?

He looked himself over, checking his condition from head to toe. Fortunately, perhaps because he had moved quickly enough never to touch the smoke, his body was fine. He let out a sigh of relief.

"You dodged that……."

Seeing that his attack had failed, Paranet was flustered. In truth, a skeletal knight with a sword in hand suddenly throwing a potion bottle had caught Yujun off guard as well. If he had thrown it aiming for exactly that, then Paranet might actually be clever.

Still, something about this feels sloppy.

Far too shoddy for a boss monster — visibly rattled just because a single flask had been dodged, and clumsy even in the posture of the throw.

Going by the notice that popped up earlier, he is a boss monster, though.

Whatever the case, levels didn't lie. It had said level 68. Yujun did not let his guard down. Every one of those gestures, every one of those movements, might have been calculated. He advanced, one slow step at a time.

"Foolish — how foolish! O ignorant, unlettered, benighted human, courting your own death. Acknowledge your defeat even now and turn your steps back, and I shall bestow my mercy upon you!"

Paranet's cry echoed hollowly, ringing out again and again.

"……."

"Why is there no answer. Human?"

Yujun drew closer still.

"Ho there!"

"……."

Step after step, he did not stop. As if that were answer enough, Paranet flew into a rage.

"To the bitter end!"

Bone clattered as Paranet closed the distance in a single stride and brought his sword down from above. The arc was utterly simple. Yujun turned his own sword sideways and caught it. A sharp scrape — and then a crack. A fissure ran through Paranet's blade. That it hadn't shattered outright was surely only because the sword itself was of decent quality. Even that, though, was enough to make Paranet start in alarm.

"N-no!"

Into the opening, Yujun drove his sword straight at Paranet's head. The skeletal knight backpedaled, then slammed down hard onto his rear with a heavy thud. Yujun brought the sword down again, once more aiming for the skull. This time, too, Paranet just barely rolled clear of the blow.

After that Yujun pressed him again and again, and again and again Paranet slipped out of danger on nimble feet. The problem was that he was too busy fleeing to manage even a single decent attack of his own.

He can tell where I'm aiming, so of course it's easy to dodge.

Yujun abandoned the idea of going for the head and simply swung. Legs, arms, shoulders — he didn't discriminate. And with that, Paranet's body began to be whittled away.

What is this?

Yujun let out an empty laugh. It was easy to an absurd degree. His attacks grazed the knight again and again, and then, at a certain moment, Paranet's right leg was severed clean through. The struggling ended there.

"N-no!"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠instant Paranet blurted the words in panic, Yujun's sword punched through his skull. A sharp, brittle crack.