Chapter 41: Infinite Proliferation (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 41: Infinite Proliferation (3)
"Keeeeee!"
With a sharp death cry, the body of the Giant Mantis, pierced with a gaping hole, collapsed.
No matter how outstanding its regenerative abilities were, it was useless.
Because no matter how tenacious the creature was, it couldn't restore its heart.
[The 'Champion of Anubis' has been defeated.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have acquired the 'Grimoire of the Peltaross Duchy'.]
[You have acquired an Intermediate Magic Crystal.]
With this, he had gained another level.
On top of that, a grimoire—something usually only seen in the middle floors of the Tower—had dropped.
'Oh, look at this?'
A soft exclamation of admiration escaped Jinhyuk's lips.
He had defeated dozens of Champions so far, but none had ever yielded such a great reward. Usually, they only dropped weapons or occasionally accessories with special effects.
But for the quality of the rewards to suddenly jump like this...
Jinhyuk immediately realized the reason.
'It's thanks to the monopoly effect combined with my Luck stat.'
It wasn't a coincidence; it was inevitable.
The small opportunities he had steadily accumulated had culminated in this achievement.
It was thrilling.
'It means my efforts weren't in vain.'
This was exactly why he couldn't quit the game, even after becoming such a hardcore veteran.
Jinhyuk picked up the ancient book lying next to the corpse.
"…!"
A chill pricked his fingertips.
…It was freezing.
[Your fingertips are partially numbed by the pure cold.]
Because the Grimoire of the Peltaross Duchy allowed one to learn ice magic, it traded at a high price among non-magic class players.
Although over ninety percent of them failed to create even a single snowflake, let alone cast actual ice magic... the mere opportunity to acquire a skill from a different class gave it plenty of rarity value.
'As expected of a duchy where prestigious magic families gather.'
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
Since it was something normally found on the 13th floor, he had planned to obtain it slowly later on. But now, he could use a new magic much sooner than planned.
Rustle.
As he flipped open the first page of the book, complex characters filled his vision.
* * *
Watching this, Anubis let out a scoff.
And for good reason.
Grimoires were written entirely in runic language, making them completely unreadable to ordinary people in the first place. Furthermore, even if one managed to learn the runic language, understanding the contents and casting even the most basic magic required a significant amount of time.
Effort and talent.
Both domains had to support each other for one to use magic.
"How foolish. Do you not know that just reading that grimoire requires well over three years of—gasp?!"
Anubis gasped mid-sentence.
Sssss!
The moisture in the air froze, and transparent ice crystals began to flutter around.
[One minute has passed. You can now use your unique abilities and skills.]
[Lv1 'Ice Sculpting' has been activated!]
Huh?
He thought he heard something like a dog barking just now.
"What did you just say?"
"H-How..."
How?
"I just stuck to the textbooks."
Of course, learning a new language was by no means easy. After all, the world was full of people who couldn't properly use English even after studying it for twelve years throughout elementary, middle, and high school.
But that was only the case for forced, rote-learning education.
'This... was a study I truly wanted for myself.'
Because it was fun.
And because he had to learn it to become stronger.
So he memorized it.
…And practiced to death.
Over and over, until he became stronger than the players who had actually chosen magic classes.
Sssss!
Soon, the fluttering ice crystals took shape.
Five ice arrows, each over two meters long.
Each beautifully sculpted arrow awaited Jinhyuk's command.
"I will admit that you are certainly no ordinary human. But do you truly intend to fight me relying on those ice toys?"
"I know."
"What?"
"I know they won't work on you."
With his current means, there was no way he could kill Anubis. No, he wouldn't even be able to leave a single scratch on his skin. Because, just like Alice, this guy was a monster residing at the very top of the Tower.
But.
"Aren't you the one who's anxious after swinging and missing? Above all, you must be dying of frustration since you can't attack other living beings without going through a Champion or your bugs."
"…."
This time, Anubis shut his mouth tight.
He had spoken to threaten his opponent, but somehow, the human already knew everything. On top of that, he had completely seen through the types of restrictions placed upon him.
'The more I look at him, the more surprising he is.'
Most interesting of all was that despite knowing his attacks would be useless, the human showed no intention of backing down.
"What is your reason?"
He was curious. What on earth was he thinking? And what was the scheme hidden behind it?
However, contrary to Anubis's expectations, the words that came out of Jinhyuk's mouth were incredibly anticlimactic.
"Just... for fun?"
"F-Fun?"
"A punching bag that won't die no matter how hard I hit it? I can't pass that up."
"Your arrogance knows no bounds."
Crack.
A very fine crack appeared on the surface of Anubis's stone statue.
Jinhyuk didn't miss that tiny change.
Good.
'Like any proud bastard, he's weak to provocations.'
If he kept rubbing him the wrong way like this, it wouldn't be long before he met the conditions for copying.
And as if to prove his point,
Rumble!
Anubis pulled out a beehive the size of a basketball.
It was the 'Hive', a special item capable of infinite multiplication.
Was he finally going to use it?
Now that the Champion was gone, that was practically his only remaining option.
"Tear that wretched human to shreds and devour him!"
Anubis infused mana into the Hive.
Then,
Bzzzz!
Bzzz!
Winged, flying insects began to pour out of the beehive.
A skin-crawling sound pierced his eardrums.
At the same time, the ice arrows hovering above Jinhyuk's head shot forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A thick blizzard erupted along with a deafening roar.
Dozens of insects were impaled on the two-meter-long ice pillars embedded in the ground.
Every single one was a direct hit.
'As expected, this level of damage isn't nearly enough.'
Although the ice arrows easily pierced the insects' outer shells, they failed to destroy the Hive itself.
But it didn't matter.
Because the outcome of this battle depended on who possessed greater endurance.
Whoosh!
A handful of flames ignited in Jinhyuk's left hand.
Sssss!
In his right hand, slender stems of ice radiated a freezing chill.
Right then,
[‘Fire Element (B)’ and ‘Ice Sculpting (A)’ are fusing!]
Jinhyuk brought his hands together.
As ice and fire met, his mana began to run wild.
Flames and blizzard intertwined.
Rumble!
The atmosphere shifted abruptly.
"Kieeee..."
"Keck! Keck!"
Even the insects hesitated before the alien mana.
Anubis's eyes narrowed.
[Fusion successful!]
[You have acquired the skill 'Daylight (AA)'!]
[Daylight]
Acquisition Difficulty: AA
Description: An anti-army skill that compresses and releases mana. While white-attribute magic boasts outstanding destructive power on its own, it also affects the target's vision, making it highly versatile in combat.
[The fused skill has been saved in the 'Memory of the World'.]
Following Ice Sculpting, he had acquired yet another new skill through fusion. And an anti-army skill specialized in dealing with multiple enemies, at that.
'I wonder how powerful it is.'
He had obtained this skill in the past as well, but he hadn't been as perfectly developed as he was now. Back then, it was a messy mix of mistakes, failures, and wasted time and effort.
That was why he was looking forward to it. To see where the path he was walking now would lead.
Jinhyuk thrust his dagger forward.
Hummmm!
[Lv1 'Daylight' has been activated!]
It was at that moment that a massive light swallowed the underground chamber.
As if standing under a scorching midsummer sun, the blinding light burned the insects' eyes.
"Keeeeck!"
"Kieeeahhh!"
The insects shrieked in agony.
It was a natural consequence for creatures that hadn't seen light in ages.
"I know it hurts, but if you bury your heads like that, how are you going to dodge this?"
The primary effect of Daylight was light-attribute damage. It dealt damage to and blinded creatures with dark-related attributes.
However, the real threat was the secondary storm that followed.
Jinhyuk stared at the light gathered at the tip of his dagger.
His arm trembled slightly. Compressing such powerful mana had strained his muscles.
Just a bit more.
Just a bit more...!
And at that moment, the light, condensed into a single point, shot out in a straight line.
There was no roar or sound of explosion. The ground didn't shatter, nor did holes appear in the walls.
It simply remained faithful to its sole purpose: lethality.
Sssssssss!
White phosphorus.
The devil's fire, which continues to burn even underwater, did not stop until it had incinerated every single insect in sight.
Of course, even during this, the Hive continued to spawn new insects... but Jinhyuk poured out his mana without rest, preventing them from gathering in numbers.
'What makes swarm insects terrifying is their sheer numbers.'
They possessed excellent cooperation and were skilled at pack hunting, making them increasingly difficult to deal with as their numbers grew. It meant they exerted a power of three or four, rather than a simple one plus one equals two.
But conversely, as long as they weren't allowed to swarm, defeating them individually was child's play.
Pop!
Boom!
When one flame burst, it acted as a trigger, detonating another.
The ice arrows also faithfully played their part, piercing the outer shells of the larger insects.
The rate at which the insects died was faster than the rate at which they spawned.
"Grrr...!"
Unable to watch any longer, Anubis finally activated the Hive's second ability.
[The 'Hive' selects a target.]
* * *
A moment later, what emerged from the beehive was a single wasp, barely a meter long.
Its stinger looked quite dangerous, but that was all. Its mana pool was low, and as a single entity, there was nothing it could do.
"Keeeeck!"
Letting out a long screech, the wasp took flight, its stinger poised.
Then, from a height of about twenty meters, it began its descent.
Bzzzzzz!
It was incredibly fast.
Jinhyuk drew his dagger.
Slash!
The two deadly weapons crossed.
Thick fluid dripped drop by drop from the tip of the dagger.
The headless wasp crashed into the ground, following its original trajectory.
Crash!
For something chosen by the Hive, it was an incredibly anticlimactic end.
Or so he thought.
"Kieee..."
The wasp wasn't dead.
It squirmed for a moment, and then a new head began to grow.
"Regeneration?"
"Heh. Do you think it is merely that?"
Anubis chuckled softly.
"Kieeee!"
"Keeck!"
It was then that a second voice echoed.
Not only did a new head grow from the body, but a new body also sprouted from the severed head.
It wasn't regeneration; it was splitting.
It was like a scene straight out of a live-action horror movie.
"So cutting it down is useless."
"Indeed. Now, no matter how much you struggle, you will only end up fighting even more insects."
This was the Hive's second ability. Having to face infinitely splitting insects until one's stamina and mana were completely depleted.
No matter how strong a player was, they would eventually hit their limit.
In the end, it was only a matter of time; the outcome had been decided from the very beginning.
But.
'...Finally, he fell for it.'
Jinhyuk smiled.
Because even this desperate situation was entirely within his calculations.
And because he knew that all of this was a setup that would lead to the outcome he desired, he couldn't help but laugh.