Chapter 87
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Moonlight Flash
-----------------------------------------------------------------
He was going to take on the boss alone.
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this?
'Not that his team would take it on, but that he would do it alone?'
No matter how high Black Scythe's level was, his opponent was a boss.
And a boss that took twenty players just to barely defeat.
'If Black Scythe really manages to kill the boss...?'
That would mean he was as strong as twenty players combined.
For those who prided themselves on their skills, their pride wouldn't allow it.
"Ha, I see now you're quite the bluffer, Sir Black Scythe."
"Bluffer?"
Ryu Min's gaze turned cold.
"You underestimate me. Why couldn't I kill something that even you lot can?"
"Hah, but there are many of us, aren't there?"
"A swarm of gnats is still just a swarm of gnats."
"What? That's a bit harsh..."
Ryu Min ignored him and walked forward.
His own team members looked surprised, as if they hadn't heard he was going to fight the boss alone.
"Sir Black Scythe?"
"Wait here. I'll be back once I'm done."
As he walked forward holding his Death Scythe, the crowd parted for him like the Red Sea.
His unique aura was anything but ordinary.
"Stay further back. Anyone who interferes will die."
"Ah, yes!"
Watching the players back away, Ryu Min glanced around.
Seeing the pillars of light scattered about, it seemed they had taken down the nearby minotaurs in a rush.
'Hmm, including the teams inside the pillars, are there about fifty people watching?'
It would be best to hide his ultimate skill if possible, but...
'This might also be a chance to make a definitive statement about my strength.'
Most people didn't truly grasp just how strong Black Scythe was.
They simply assumed he was strong because his level was overwhelmingly high.
'They might see my fights and think I'm strong, but it won't truly sink in.'
But what if he showed them him swiftly dealing with a minotaur they themselves had struggled against?
Not a single gnat would dare disrespect Black Scythe again.
'I'll finish this as quickly as possible.'
As Ryu Min stepped forward, most people wore expressions of disbelief.
"Is he really going to fight it alone?"
"Ooh, Black Scythe, by himself?"
"I was getting bored. This should be interesting."
Some, finding it amusing, crossed their arms and watched from within their pillars.
All eyes in the crowd were on him.
Ryu Min stopped a short distance away and faced the minotaur.
The massive bull-like monster sensed his presence and turned around.
"Grrrrrr."
It glared down with a terrifying crimson glint in its eyes, but Ryu Min's presence didn't waver in the slightest.
He simply gripped his scythe with both hands and drew it back behind him.
"What's he doing?"
"Looks like he's about to use a skill."
"He uses a skill from that stance?"
Despite the murmurs from the crowd, Ryu Min stared down the minotaur without faltering.
'The system starts recording the time the moment the distance closes enough for an attack to land.'
In other words, this was just a preparatory stance, and the clock wasn't running yet.
'The instant it enters my range, I'll aim for its neck.'
Ryu Min's eyes gauged the distance to his foe.
He minutely adjusted the angle of his scythe.
He ran a quick simulation in his head.
'I have to strike in that moment of confusion.'
"Kwoooar!"
The minotaur expressed its rage toward the prey that dared not flee its sight.
Thump, thump, thump-!
He calculated the time it would take for the charging minotaur to enter his range based on its stride.
'Three seconds.'
Thump- Thump-
'Two seconds.'
Thump- Thump-
Vwoooom-
Moonlight energy gathered on Ryu Min's scythe.
'One second.'
Thump- Thump-
The moment the bull entered his range.
'Night of Death.'
Duwoong-!
A veil of darkness descended.
Plunged into darkness, the minotaur was momentarily stunned.
'Now. Moonlight Flash.'
Ryu Min's scythe drew a crescent arc.
A single streak of light emerged from the suffocating darkness, brightly illuminating the minotaur's face.
Slice-!
Along with the clean sound of something being severed.
Thud-!
The sound of something heavy falling was heard.
What had happened became clear the moment the veil lifted.
"Gasp!"
"L-Look at that!"
"Isn't that the minotaur's head?"
The thick neck, difficult to sever even with the blades of twenty people, had been cut clean through in a single strike.
The players, stunned, looked back and forth between the boss and Ryu Min.
"He killed it in one hit...?"
"No way..."
'Of course it's not impossible. Look at my stats right now.'
My Strength is 403 and my Intelligence is 627.
These were my stats after the multiplicative effects of Min Ju-ri's buff, the Rune of Slaughter, and the Rune of Balance.
'With this much, a one-shot kill is perfectly reasonable.'
Moreover, I activated Night of Death at the crucial moment to amplify Moonlight Flash's damage by 1.5 times.
'Even the High Orc was a one-second cut. This thing is nothing.'
The minotaur is the Round 6 boss, but it's a boss in name only, weaker than even the High Orc.
'The difficulty of the last round's sub-quest was just insane.'
But the reward, the Rune of Balance, was just as good.
[You have defeated the Minotaur!]
[A 3x experience buff is active.]
[Experience is increased by 1.5x due to a title effect.]
[Experience +11.68%]
[Gold +1,200]
[You have acquired 'Bull's Hide'.]
[You have acquired 'Blueprint: Minotaur's Armor'.]
Since we were in a party, my allies would have received the same message.
That's why the experience and gold seem low.
'But the items are all mine.'
I grinned as I looked at the item list.
Of all the items the minotaur could drop, I had gotten the best one.
[Bull's Hide]
-Category: Material
-Description: High-quality bull's hide. Its toughness makes it excellent for crafting armor.
It was a material used to craft Minotaur's Armor.
And conveniently, the blueprint for the armor dropped as well.
[Blueprint: Minotaur's Armor]
-Category: Consumable
-Description: An item containing the six combination formulas needed to craft the Unique item, Minotaur's Armor. It is advisable to prepare to take notes before using it.
If I opened the blueprint, Bull's Hide would be listed among the materials.
I knew without looking.
'Because I've already opened it before.'
Blueprints are fundamentally consumable items.
'Using it reveals the combination formula for the item, but...'
It disappears after a certain time, so it's best to either memorize it or write it down somewhere.
'I don't need to, though. It's all in my head.'
Not that I had any intention of crafting Minotaur's Armor.
'It's a good item, but it's exclusively for tanks.'
I had another set of armor in mind, so this was unnecessary, but I decided to hold onto it for now.
A blueprint that could create a Unique item would sell for a high price.
'Overall, I got some pretty good items.'
Satisfied, he returned to his party members, only to find them all looking dazed.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Huh? Ah... yes."
They all wore expressions that said they couldn't believe he'd killed it in one hit.
But among them, Heo Tae-seok's expression was a sight to behold.
'This guy... what's with that look?'
He was staring at him dazedly, like someone who had just fallen in love.
It seemed he had lost his mind.
'I can't say I don't understand, since he's destined to become a follower... but I should probably keep my distance.'
I didn't want any unnecessary misunderstandings.
Meanwhile, Ahn Sang-chul was watching Ryu Min, inwardly marveling.
'What was that just now? It was so fast, I couldn't even see it properly.'
A flash of light had blinked in the darkness, and then the minotaur's head had fallen.
'Was it a skill? Or could it be... a basic attack?'
In any case, one thing was certain: he had killed a boss in a single blow.
'To take down a boss in one hit...'
No matter how he thought about it, it was clearly an unbelievable feat.
Afterward, a pillar of light descended and enveloped all the party members.
Having defeated the boss, they had passed the round.
Though they had no way of knowing their rank yet.
Ryu Min looked at the remaining bosses.
'There are only nine tickets left. Time is running out, they'd better hurry.'
There was no time to stand around spacing out.
Belatedly realizing this, the other parties rushed toward the minotaurs scattered around the area.
The game ended.
[So you've killed all 101 bosses?]
As the time limit was about to expire, all the bosses were dealt with, and the angel appeared.
[As for the remaining teams that couldn't kill a boss, I'll just go ahead and eliminate them without a second thought.]
"N-No!"
"A-Angel, please wait...!"
Fwoosh-
Leaving the scattering dust behind, Priscilla spoke nonchalantly.
[Shall we check the rankings then?]
★ Round 6 Results Compilation ★
[All Zones]
└1st. Black Scythe & 4 others 00:00:01
└2nd. Cheonma & 4 others 00:03:21
└3rd. Dumb Idiots & 4 others 00:04:09
[Current Zone C-ESKS007]
└1st. Black Scythe & 4 others 00:00:01
└2nd. Kim Su-han-mu & 4 others 00:05:31
└3rd. Freeloader & 4 others 00:05:58
[For reference, the nicknames displayed in the results window belong to the human with the highest contribution.]
The players were shocked when they saw the rankings.
"What? Why isn't our team in first place? We definitely killed ours first."
"Black Scythe's team is first? The team that killed theirs so late?"
Hearing the murmurs, Priscilla smirked.
[Who told you that? That the rankings are based on who kills the boss first? As you can see, the ranking is determined by the time it took to kill the boss.]
"The time?"
"Ah... so that's why our team is last..."
[The longest time was 11 minutes and 30 seconds. I don't know how it takes over 11 minutes to kill one bull. You inferior humans. Tsk.]
Priscilla, still sneering, checked the record again.
[On the other hand, the fastest time is 1 minute. That's Black Scythe's team. Well, a decent result...]
"Angel! The time is wrong!"
[What are you talking about?]
"The time, the time!"
"It's not 1 minute!"
Sensing something was off, Priscilla blinked and looked again.
[Not 1 minute... 1 second?]
The time it took Black Scythe to deal with the boss was one second.
Realizing this belatedly, Priscilla wore a blank expression.
[One second? Did you say one second?]
She was so dumbfounded that she muttered aloud, forgetting the humans were watching.
The angel, realizing her mistake too late, broke into a cold sweat.
[Ahem, so a record of 1 second is possible. Goes to show how weak the boss was...]
This contradicted what she had said earlier when emphasizing the boss's strength.
[W-Well, first, let's distribute the rewards for the top three. Please note that the reward is only given to the person with the highest contribution.]
A welcome message appeared before Ryu Min's eyes.
[Congratulations! You have completed the quest as 1st place in the current zone!]
[Congratulations! You have completed the quest as 1st place in all zones!]
[Your current rank, 'Black Scythe', is 1st in all zones and 1st in the current zone.]
[As a reward for ranking 1st in the current zone, you will receive a 'Superior Epic Helm Selection Ticket'!]
[As a reward for ranking 1st in all zones, you will receive a 'Special Reward Selection Box'!]
'A Superior Epic Helm?'
Ryu Min grinned.
It was about time he changed his helm anyway.
[You may select one of the following Epic Helms.]
[Please touch your desired reward.]
└ 1. Angel's Halo
└ 2. Minotaur's Bull Mask
└ 3. Hermes's Feathered Hat
'Among these, the one I need is the Feathered Hat. It has a very attractive option.'
When he selected number 3, the item information appeared.
[Hermes's Feathered Hat]
-Category: Helm
-Grade: Epic
-Defense: 180
-Effect: Agility+10, [Invisibility] can be used
-Durability: 1,500/1,500
-Usage Restriction: Expert Grade or higher
-Description: A helm modeled after Hermes's feathered hat. It is not the genuine article. Allows the user to become invisible when needed.