Chapter 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 013
Chapter Title: Star Lord (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thung-
The tomahawk, flung with all his might, collided with some kind of barrier and fell limply to the ground with a dull thud.
He hadn’t expected this single blow to deal fatal damage, but given how much he’d grown, he’d hoped for at least some meaningful injury.
Yet when his full-force strike failed to inflict even a scratch and dissipated harmlessly, his vision went dark.
At least he’d succeeded in drawing its attention.
Arktine wasn’t pursuing So-hee and Dong-gil anymore. Instead, it approached him, flapping its ash-gray wings.
One of his goals—drawing aggro—had been achieved.
[You encounter the Star Lord of Songpa Zone 2, ‘Arktine.’]
[You lack the qualifications. You submit to her.]
[The title ‘First Apostle Slayer’ resists, albeit imperfectly!]
Did the monster receive the message about resisting submission?
Arktine, enraged, shook its wings furiously, its compound eyes glowing blue.
[She pierces through your Karma and rank.]
[She recognizes your potential to become a ‘sacrifice.’]
[She bestows a mark upon you.]
Sizzle.
“…Ugh!”
A burning pain seared through Min-jun’s left palm, where a star-shaped wound appeared.
[Acquired title ‘Sacrifice Mark’!]
[All Star Lords in the Songpa region vaguely sense your presence!]
[All Apostles will strive to offer you as a sacrifice to their Star Lord!]
.
.
.
[The System detects an error.]
[Balance patch applied.]
.
.
.
[Acquired title ‘Minimum Qualification.’]
[Your body begins to change!]
“…Mark?”
Ding!
The alarm rang, followed by a stream of messages.
[You have completed ‘Main Quest (1)’ via a hidden method.]
[You already possess the title ‘Minimum Qualification.’]
[Acquired ‘Advanced Item Exchange Ticket’ as substitute reward!]
[Your rank rises by one level as reward.]
[You have reached ‘Gold’ rank. Item listings in Space Market expand.]
Min-jun ignored the pop-ups and coldly assessed the situation.
It was great that the other two could escape safely, and even better that he’d somehow earned new rewards…
But none of it mattered if he couldn’t survive the monster right in front of him.
‘I’ll check the details after I survive this thing…. What should I do—’
That’s when he spotted a fairly large building beyond the horde.
‘If I can just break through them and take shelter there….’
This house-sized moth couldn’t follow him inside.
‘With my stats and skill levels up, the larvae are still manageable.’
With a target in mind, Min-jun plunged into the larva swarm.
- Piii!
Arktine, witnessing this, let out an enraged screech. It thrust four long tentacles into the backs of the larvae.
The tentacles pulsed, injecting something into them. The connected larvae began to swell in size.
“As easy a target as I might look, you’re seriously evolving them right in front of me?”
The larvae couldn’t move with tentacles embedded, so Min-jun’s casual axe swings claimed their massive heads easily.
It was a golden rule: attack while they transform.
Thud. Thud. Crunch!
Two light taps, then a powered third strike for bonus damage. No giant larva could withstand that; their heads shattered.
‘One down.’
Min-jun hurled his tomahawk at the next one without pause.
Thanks to his boosted agility, his body moved exactly as imagined.
Now fully adapted to the speed, he felt capable of maneuvers he’d never dreamed of before.
He leaped into the air toward the larva, then delivered a graceful arcing kick to the tomahawk’s handle.
The axe, playing the ding role, sank into the larva’s neck.
Clang-
The head came clean off.
Two giant larvae down in one breath. The rest finally snapped to attention, tightening their encirclement from all sides.
- Kieek!
- Kiruk!
Leading them were two giant larvae blessed with Arktine’s star grace.
Min-jun swung his round shield at their charging scythes.
Boom!
Absorbing the impact, he slipped into the first one’s guard and swung his retrieved tomahawk, smashing its chest.
He pressed his shield against the cracked exoskeleton and muttered.
‘Release.’
Kwaaaang!
The accumulated damage wasn’t trivial. A cannonball-sized hole blasted through the giant larva’s chest.
Leaping over the collapsing body and its green fluids, he turned to the last giant larva—
Kwaaaang!!
Arktine’s tentacle whipped out suddenly, slamming Min-jun into building rubble with its immense mass.
“…Cough!”
One hit… and his entire body screamed.
Despite his boosted defense, an unpleasant dissonance spread through him, like his body was shattering.
Adrenaline surged wildly—whether from survival instinct or desperation, his body barely obeyed.
Staggering upright, he faced Arktine hovering midair, fixated solely on him.
Even through its insect eyes, devoid of pupils, a thick, predatory hunger emanated, turning his stomach.
“Damn it… who do you think you’re gonna eat, you bug bastard?!”
Did it understand his curse?
Whip- Boom!
“…Kuh.”
No warning—the tentacle lashed like a whip.
Too fast to track visually, he blocked purely on instinct.
No chance for counterattack. Even with the shock-absorbing shield, his shoulder throbbed.
Whip- Boom!
It surely had other abilities, but it toyed with him from afar, whipping tentacles.
One attack: absorb the shock.
The next: offset with shock release. He barely defended against the barrage.
Without the [Accumulating Round Shield], this lopsided fight wouldn’t even be possible. But creating an upset against its superior reach, size, and stats seemed impossible, no matter how he racked his brain.
‘I can’t win now.’
Crack.
Worse, a crack sounded in the shield while blocking a tentacle.
He’d reached his limit holding out.
‘If the shield breaks, it’s over. Before then….’
Time for a desperate gamble.
‘Do or die.’
Min-jun swung the tomahawk at the incoming tentacle instead of the shield.
Shiiiing!!
Like their first clash: block meant death. Success meant a slim chance.
He bet his life on it.
‘Please….’
It wasn’t blind luck.
The main quest demanding minimum qualification—and the message confirming he’d gained it.
Maybe that qualified him to kill Star Lords.
His earlier hits didn’t just do low damage; they felt nullified.
If lack of qualification blocked attacks?
A leap of logic, but he clung to it in desperation.
Thoughts raced eternally, but reality struck in an instant.
Clang-
The black arc severed the tentacle clean.
- Kiiiieeeek!!
Arktine screamed in agony, the stump momentarily stunned.
‘It works?!’
[Pesticide] skill effect.
Min-jun slammed his shield into the ground.
Kwaaaang!
The shockwave exploded pooled rainwater, launching him airborne. The shield shattered, its duty done.
One chance born from this.
He had to disable it now.
Whirrr-
Spinning midair, he weighted the tomahawk.
And buried it in the moth’s black compound eye.
“Got it!”
‘If I can just escape before it recovers—?’
Watching Arktine writhe as he fell, Min-jun’s thoughts flickered.
Swaaaaang!! Kwaaaang!!!
‘Too complacent?’
‘Or was the plan reckless from the start?’
‘No reason to think it’d play along.’
As the whip-like tentacle closed in, his drifting thoughts snapped off unfinished.
Min-jun rocketed like a bullet, buried in rubble.
Arktine, fury unspent, relentlessly pounded the concrete tomb with its massive tentacles.
As if it could never forgive prey daring to wound it. Again and again.
* * *
Psssh-
‘…Ugh. What happened? I thought I succeeded.’
When Min-jun dimly regained consciousness, everything was ash-gray.
Sensations slowly returned, blunt at first.
But unlike past blackouts, the muffled dripping was rain—and blurry focus sharpening revealed a giant moth.
‘Ah. I failed.’
He was caught in its tentacle.
Realizing it, crushing pain hit.
His “masterstroke” was futile thrashing.
Proving it, Arktine dangled him while flying erratically.
- Piii
A bit wounded, but triumphant, it flapped hard toward its nest, savoring victory.
Larvae bowed to joyful Arktine, then resumed toward the nest.
Arktine circled briefly, confirmed, then veered toward Jamsil Station intersection.
Inevitably, a gap formed between ground-crawling larvae and sky-crossing Arktine….
In that victorious lapse—
Bwooooom-
A helicopter-like roar heralded a massive shadow ambushing Arktine.
* * *
As the buzzing giant clashed with Arktine, Min-jun was flung far, crashing onto asphalt.
“Cough…!”
The fall’s agony was beyond “worst.” His battered body could barely stand.
But to live, he had to move.
Distanced from larvae, this was heaven-sent last escape.
Dragging his wrecked form, Min-jun slipped into an alley.
[You encounter the Star Lord of Songpa Zone 4, ‘Hornet.’]
Hornet.
The message triggered burning pain in his palm, blood flowing.
But pain short of crippling kept him alert, like an awakening agent.
With the helicopter-sized hornet distracting Arktine—
Flee as far as possible. Min-jun trudged alley after alley with that resolve.
Judging by System words, he was why they fought.
Miss this chance, no next.
‘Full circle, but Arktine’s attention shifted as planned.’
Min-jun drew [Silent Fairbairn-Sykes] from his waist, praying.
‘Hope this skill counters [Apostle’s Nemesis].’
With worry, he activated [Shadow Step]. The staggering figure melted into the alley’s shadows.