This is a Boss?! # 6
This is a Boss?! # 6
The Brain Beast was blazing a fiery red.
In that moment, I could think of nothing but the fact that I had to kill it.
A fury clearly beyond normal. The rage boiling up rapidly didn't feel like my own. There was no reason for me to get this pissed off just looking at that bastard... I'd get it if my fighting spirit flared up against a powerful enemy, but the rage I was feeling now was something stickier, more clinging.
Hot and heavy rage, as if born from a grudge.
I had no reason to feel it. It almost felt like an injected emotion. But this was definitely mine. That rage was driving me forward!
"Kraaaaaaaah!!!"
I let out a War Cry, pulling the bastard's aggro more clearly. The thing, swimming through the air as it flew at me, flinched as if on guard.
That bastard.
It's going to read the mana wave from the War Cry and analyze it. That unknown 'knowledge' bloomed in my head and had me analyzing its actions. Just as it analyzes me, I need to analyze it to win.
My rage turned into fuel for victory.
I'll burn this rage and kill it!
—Boom!
A massive roar echoed. The thing, which had been probing me, began to gather power in its crackling face. Particles converged and instantly formed a sphere of light. The sphere swelled, and the moment it hit critical mass—
—Bzzzzzzzt!
A blue energy cannon shot straight at me!
"Tsk!"
—Fwwip!
I kicked off the ground hard and hurled myself sideways.
—Brakakaka-boom!
Following my movement, the monster turned its head and swept the energy cannon across the rooftop I'd been standing on, laying waste to it and chasing me down.
Up ahead.
There's a bigger building. If I climb up there and jump, I can land right on the bastard's back...!
"Aack, fuck!"
But the bastard's head turned faster. I slammed on the emergency brakes mid-stride, pulled a backstep, and dodged the energy cannon trying to engulf me.
At the same time.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaa!"
I just jumped full-force and plunged off the building! I'll fall all the way to the ground, then use the nearby objects as shields and climb back up there!
Thinking that as I free-fell, I spun my body around and landed feet-first.
—Thud!
"Aghhhk!"
—Bzzzzt!
I protected myself well enough with mana, but my whole body was ringing!
No time to stand still, though.
"Bwoooooo!"
Because the thing immediately started swinging its head toward me.
—Brakakaka-boom!
The devastating energy cannon closed in, smashing the building I'd been on top of and chewing the road to pieces. Insane...! What rank is this bastard? It's gotta be above C-rank!
"You won't catch me, you fucker!"
My running speed exceeds Usain Bolt's!
—Whoosh!
A sudden burst of speed using mana. I sprinted down the otherworldly road, heading for the tallest building. —Tchzh. At the same time, the monster's energy cannon cut off. I'd handled its first pattern well.
"Good!"
The instant I reached the building, I launched myself up with a powerful jump and planted my feet on a window ledge. I scaled it like that, leaping from ledge to ledge, and the moment the monster closed in on me—
—Thwump!
I kicked off the building's wall hard, launching myself backward into a backflip.
"Yahooooooo!"
Air-swimming.
My vision flipped. The monster, clearly intent on eating me, headbutted the building wall. I stared straight at it and—
—Clench!
Holding my sword in a reverse grip, I swung down with everything I had.
"Dieeeeeee!"
And landed right on its back!
—Kwaaang!
But.
"Son of a bitch!"
Even though I'd slammed it full-force while cloaked in sword aura, there wasn't a scratch on that centipede-like carapace...!
—Whump!
The bastard tried to swim through the air again. For a split second I lost my balance and nearly fell off, but I barely managed to kick off the carapace and steady myself. Fall off here? Before I hit the ground, I'd be caught and torn apart by those sharp legs.
"Hap!"
—Slash!
I tried testing a sword strike at the joints between the carapace segments, but it was no use.
So that really is my only option, huh?
I admit it.
At my current level, unless I hit the weak point on top of its head, I can't even deal damage. I should've put more points into Mana earlier...!
No time to think!
"Kraaaaaaaah!"
Roaring, I kicked off its carapace and sprinted. It felt like running down a long roller coaster track.
"Bwooooooo!"
The thing thrashed frantically to shake me off its back, but my sense of balance was superior. What do you think I learned at school?
Then.
—Ding!
[Dexterity increases by 1.]
[Dexterity increases by 1.]
[Mana increases by 1.]
[Strength increases by 1.]
"What the fuck?"
Suddenly stats were shooting up like crazy! Insane! Could fighting a powerful enemy really be making my stats jump nonstop? Honestly, I did just fight like a total badass!
But.
—Fizzle.
As I saw the stats rocketing up like some overpowered cheat, the fierce rage that had been blazing suddenly started to die down, like my anger was getting paid off!
"Fucked!"
If I lose my rage here, I'm totally screwed! To think I'd ever yell "fucked" at the sight of my stats going up!
"No!"
The monster is starting to look like an angel!
How am I supposed to cut down an angel?!
"No, wait!"
Laugh!
"Kahahaha!"
Turn the rage into joy! That's it! I just have to enjoy watching my stats go up!
And with that, my fighting spirit recharged to full again. Using the sounds of my stats rising as fuel, I burned with fighting spirit and sprinted all the way to the monster's head.
If I smash the jewel embedded in its head like this, I can kill it!
—Flash!
The moment I thought that,
the jewel on the bastard's head flashed bright, and—
—Fwooosh!
The whole world went white.
"What the...!"
I realized it instinctively. The thing had released a blinding radiance. With reflexes like a wild animal's, I coated my eyes with mana to protect my vision and tried to right my balance at the same time.
—Fwaaang!
I was flying through the air.
A shockwave had burst out along with the radiance.
"Son of a..."
Is this fucked?
—Flash!
Soon my vision came back. I was falling, and the bastard had its crackling maw gaped wide open, charging straight at me like a moray eel trying to swallow me whole.
"Bwoooooooo!"
"Eat shit, you fuck!"
No choice now!
—Flash!
Mid-fall, I jacked my right leg way up, like I was doing a high-kick challenge. Holding my body in that pose—
—Snap!
The moment the bastard opened its jaws and closed in—
"You son of a bitch!"
Just like a wild animal trap snapping shut, I slammed my leg down with everything I had and struck the bastard right in the face!
—Bam!
The recoil launched me back up into the air. Just as I'd intended... it meant I'd climbed back above the monster's head. I didn't miss the chance. I cloaked my sword in sword aura again and—
"Die!!!"
I smashed the jewel on its head with all my strength!
—Crack!
A crisp, satisfying impact.
And then.
The jewel shattered into pieces.
"Bwooooooo...!"
At the same time, the thing's body plummeted powerlessly. I rode its carapace down, then jumped off at just the right moment to minimize the fall damage.
"I won, you motherfucker."
—Ding.
[Dexterity increases by 1.]
[Mana increases by 1.]
Exhilaration.
"Hah."
Insane exhilaration!
"Kahahahahahahahahaha!"
A truly mad laugh burst out of me! The moment I killed it, a joy that felt unearthly erupted from deep in my heart!
"I killed it! I killed the bastard!"
And on top of that, the stats that came with it were basically a bonus!
Just as I was laughing like that—
—Bzzzzt.
"Motherfucker."
Something impossible happened.
—Riiiiip.
—Riiiiip.
—Riiiiip.
From the sky over there, dimensional rifts began to tear open again... and identical monsters started crawling out in droves.
Seven of them.
"..."
—Wooooom...
"Does this make any sense?"
I barely killed one, and now there are seven?
As if the joy from a moment ago had been a lie, my body went cold and my sense of reality crumbled.
—Tsspt!
The bastards locked onto me.
"Fuck!"
Running was the only thing I could do!
—Brakakaka-boom!
—Shwiing!
"Saaaave meeeee!"
I sprinted, dodging the energy cannonfire that pulverized the earth as it chased me, and I swung my sword to check the bastards that flew in at me, thrusting their heads forward!
"Uwaaaaaaak!"
But the moment I covered one, the other three circled around to surround me while three more came in to attack!
A fight I could never win!
"Guh!"
What if I could escape by going through those dimensional rifts? The instant I thought that and turned—
—Thud!
One of the circling monsters greeted me.
"Insane!"
I tried to run somewhere else, and another one that had circled around greeted me! I turned again, and there was a monster there too!
"I'm fucked! Surrounded!"
—Bwooooooo!
The monsters surrounding me let out bizarre cries and charged in.
Is this death?
That bitch Kitty—what the hell was she doing instead of helping me?
"Geun-cheol!!!"
A sharp voice pierced my ears.
"Huh?"
It was a flash. Something that flew in like a flash sliced clean through the jewel on the head of the monster that had been about to pounce on me—in one strike.
—Slash!
After dealing with that one, my savior flew straight at me, and I got a clear look at my savior's face.
"Si-hoo?!"
What the fuck is Si-hoo doing here?!
But more importantly!
"Geun-cheol!!!"
"No, hey!"
—Wham!
"Kuh-hup...!"
Si-hoo slammed into me with a body-check and sent me flying. The pain only lasted a moment. The spot where I'd been standing was smashed to bits. Did Si-hoo... just save me? Then Si-hoo is—!
"Si-hoo!!!"
A scream tore from my throat, nearly ripping.
—Slash!!!
The monster's sharp leg slashed across Si-hoo's upper body...! Holy shit! No matter what, I have to save Si-hoo! This bastard took that hit to save me!
But then.
—Bang!
I heard something burst, and Si-hoo, with that massive gash across the upper body, tucked into a backflip and extended toward me.
"Si-hoo?"
Wait, didn't this bastard just get sliced wide open?
"Geun-cheol! Are you okay?!"
A very frantic-looking face.
"No, more like, you... huh?"
And then I spotted something extremely bizarre.
—Jiggle.
Si-hoo's torn top.
Bare skin was exposed.
But attached to it was something that should never be attached to a man—something large and fatty, dangling there like a jiggling fruit.
"Dop."
"Dop?"
Blue veins... This is—
"It's a Doppelganger Slimeeeee!!!!!!!"
"Wha, what?!"
This bastard has tits on his chest!!!!!
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!"
I tore at my hair and screamed!!!!
