Mastering the Time Attack
Most of the skeletons had been wiped out.
Grgh... grrrghhh.
The Giant Cyclops wasn't in normal condition either.
Storm, Powerful Arrow Shot.
He fired one arrow, then immediately kicked off the ground.
Wind Step. Morph, morph.
When he'd closed enough distance on the beast...
Giant Cyclops has lost vision for 3 seconds.
The message popped up. It was because of the confusion potion on the arrow he'd fired earlier. Without slowing down, he closed in and swung his sword down hard.
Storm, Cross Slash.
He felt the solid impact.
-2,417 HP
-4,341 HP
Monstrous damage.
The beast twitched. After three seconds, it tried to move.
A little longer.
While dodging a few follow-up attacks from the Giant Cyclops and dealing damage, Mu-hyuk spotted it gearing up for a ki blast. He hurriedly coated his blade with confusion potion.
Slash.
As he slashed, the Giant Cyclops shook its upper body.
Giant Cyclops has lost body control for 3 seconds.
He pressed the attack, inflicting heavy damage.
Now for the finale.
Dark Spirit shot forward.
Fear Stimulation!
He used Cross Slash once more.
-2,417 HP
-362 HP (Fear Stimulation)
-4,341 HP
-651 HP (Fear Stimulation)
Excessive Bleeding effect applied.
Opponent's HP continuously decreases.
He didn't stop attacking.
Slash, slash!
Damage exploded in a short burst.
Without interference, he attacked uninterrupted for nine seconds straight, shaving off tens of thousands of HP.
But the Giant Cyclops was still alive and moving.
"Hoo..."
When the hell is it going down?
Time?
Remaining time: 4 minutes 19 seconds
Gritting his teeth, he charged again.
No—right as he was about to.
Thud.
The beast toppled forward.
"Ah..."
Excessive bleeding had drained the last of its HP.
Time Attack Dungeon cleared.
Remaining time: 4 minutes 17 seconds
Grade: B
Contributions settled.
Acquired massive experience from clear reward.
Acquired 3 Random Boxes (Advanced).
His vision shifted along with the hologram.
He was back in front of the iron door.
"O-oh...!"
The users reread the hologram and erupted in cheers.
"Crazy, jackpot!"
"Th-the experience is insane!"
"Random boxes too—what's this?"
"Kuh, total mega jackpot anyway!"
Some users opened their random boxes right away.
"Guys, I got a skull from my random box!"
"Hah, jackpot. Congrats!"
"I got a weapon worth about 60 gold!"
"Whoa, nuts."
Not everyone was lucky, of course.
"Ah, mine's trash."
"Same..."
"But everyone got one box, right?"
"Yeah, one."
"I got two..."
"Holy."
"Ah, so that's what contributions mean."
At that moment, all eyes turned to Mu-hyuk.
"Then..."
"How many did you get, Mu-hyuk...?"
Mu-hyuk smiled awkwardly as he answered.
He had to, given the mood.
"Three."
"Ahh..."
Fewer than expected, so they nodded in acceptance—but they missed one thing. The grade of Mu-hyuk's boxes.
"Let's rest for now?"
"Yeah!"
Mu-hyuk sat and pulled out a box.
Advanced grade.
He opened one first.
Nothing special in the description.
A leg, literally.
Gross to even hold, but it was an item, so it'd be useful somewhere. He stashed it in his inventory.
He opened the remaining two boxes right away. Out came a pair of shoes and a greatsword.
Good options.
Probably 50 gold combined.
After checking all rewards, Mu-hyuk pondered.
Save Revive, yeah.
Knowing rewards like this were possible, he had to milk it for all it was worth.
Experience was way better than field hunting too, so he planned infinite repeats to clear the dungeon.
"Everyone rested enough?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's go."
The users were fired up.
The rewards were killer.
"Going in."
They pushed past repeating stages to end the brutal fight with the fourth-stage boss.
Time Attack Dungeon cleared.
Remaining time: 3 minutes 22 seconds
Grade: C
Contributions settled.
Acquired experience from clear reward.
Acquired 3 Random Boxes (Intermediate).
Cleared at C grade this time.
Two cases so far.
45-minute clear: B grade.
46-minute clear: C grade.
47 minutes D grade?
Curious, Mu-hyuk decided to test a 47-minute clear.
"C grade this time."
"Kinda disappointing."
"Aim for A next time."
"Sounds good!"
"Kuh, got a decent weapon this round!"
"Ooh, congrats."
They compared box contents during rest.
Exactly 30 minutes later, Mu-hyuk urged the next challenge. Everyone dove in with eager faces.
Cleared stage 1 in 5 minutes; wall vanished, stairs appeared.
Down the stairs, cleared stage 2 in 8 minutes.
Stage 3: 11 minutes.
24 minutes total so far.
Time dragged in the final boss room, stage 4, netting D grade.
Time Attack Dungeon cleared.
Remaining time: 2 minutes 42 seconds
Grade: D
Contributions settled.
Acquired experience from clear reward.
Acquired 3 Random Boxes (Basic).
As Mu-hyuk predicted, D grade for 47 minutes.
"Rest 30 minutes, then go again."
"Yes!"
"Cool!"
During rest, Mu-hyuk focused on crafting.
Clang, clang!
Right before departure, he opened the boxes. Three intermediate: armor, gloves, Giant Cyclops upper body. Three basic: one trash item, a shield worth 30 gold, and the Giant Cyclops's eyeless face.
What the hell...
Auction the items, inventory the rest like trash.
"Let's go again, everyone."
"Yeah!"
Proper hunt this time.
Time Attack Dungeon cleared.
Remaining time: 4 minutes 2 seconds
Grade: B
Acquired experience from clear reward.
But different from before.
"Huh? What? Did I not get a box?"
"Me neither?"
Mu-hyuk chuckled at the absurdity.
So that's it.
Mistake to think they'd keep giving these ridiculous rewards forever. Rewards were too good; he'd suspected, but didn't expect one per grade only.
"Ah, guess we can only get one per grade."
"Tch, yeah."
"Makes sense they wouldn't keep giving stuff this good..."
Mu-hyuk clapped.
"Now we know rewards are once per grade, so let's clear as slowly as possible."
"Huh? Slowly?"
"Better to get one from each low grade too."
"Ah...!"
"Of course, after resting."
"Right."
After 30 minutes, Mu-hyuk and the gangster necromancer users challenged. Killed the boss with 1 minute 1 second left. E grade: two basic boxes. Next run: F grade, one lowest-grade box.
"Now for A grade challenge."
"Whew, finally..."
Mu-hyuk paused, pondering.
Use Revive?
Is A really the top? What if not?
He'd only seen this dungeon once before, no clue on grade ceiling. Better play safe.
Use Revive sparingly.
Decision made, he challenged the dungeon.
Vision shifted—he bolted.
Pat-pat-pat.
Summoned skeletons in the wide hall, waited for light.
"Coming."
Light and monsters appeared.
Kaboom!
Magic cleared the first wave.
Same method—blasted through monsters instantly, headed to stage 2.
When flying monsters appeared there, he used the skill as they died.
"Revive."
Revived the flying monsters.
"Ooh, finally..."
"Using it?"
"Yeah."
Mu-hyuk commanded the revived monsters as he answered.
Kieeeek!
Monsters clashed amid chaos; skeletons supported from behind.
Obviously faster than before.
"Ooh, speeding up!"
"Wow, record time?"
"A grade incoming."
Used just 12 minutes.
38 left.
"Even 10 more minutes leaves 28."
"Plenty doable."
Flying monsters now allies from stage 2, so predictions solid. And they panned out.
Remaining time: 28 minutes 11 seconds
Big buffer before final stage 4.
Facing the boss.
-------!
Skeletons sacrificed to ki blasts.
Surviving flying monsters stronger than user skeletons, so he worked to avoid pointless losses.
Efforts paid off bit by bit. Monsters zipped through air, raining attacks—damage bigger than expected.
"Good, push!"
"Almost!"
Prior fights building experience?
Users responded well.
Remaining time: 9 minutes 41 seconds
Ten minutes left, end in sight.
Thud.
Soon after, Giant Cyclops collapsed.
Time Attack Dungeon cleared.
Remaining time: 9 minutes 7 seconds
Grade: A
Contributions settled.
Acquired massive experience from clear reward.
Acquired 2 Random Boxes (Special).
A grade, two special boxes—but quest not cleared.
As expected...!
Mu-hyuk figured 10+ minutes remaining would hit higher than A, clearing the quest.
Using Revive early, Power of Darkness, max effort on boss—totally doable.
"This challenge ends it."
Time to see the true finale.