Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: ACT.19 Gate, and Beyond (3)
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[But that alone is not enough.]
Spears identical to the one Hwang Chan-jin had thrown appeared.
Not made of ice, but a collection of poisons and viruses that would burst on contact.
There wasn't just one.
There were dozens of them.
A number so great that it would be difficult for even S-rank players to neutralize them all without exerting their full power.
Someone swallowed hard.
What if one of the unblocked spears fell on them?
With the cylinders' effects wearing off, they couldn't be sure they would survive.
"I-I don't want to die..."
[That is not for me to decide.]
"It's your attack! Why isn't it your decision?!"
[If you are strong, you will block it. This is a matter of weakness, not strength.]
"What does that even..."
The man's words were cut short.
The spears of disease, a mix of green and black, had begun to move slowly.
[You should not blame your opponent's strength, but your own weakness. You're not accepting it, just looking for excuses. Such an inferior mindset does not even deserve to live.]
As if there was nothing more to say, the King of Disease flicked his finger.
"We have to block them, no matter what!"
Seong Woo-hyeon stepped forward and unleashed his power.
His arm was covered in reptilian scales, and massive claws formed, leaving scratches in the air.
"Don't let them explode!"
Hwang Chan-jin shouted urgently, but the other guild masters had already moved.
*KABOOM!*
Dozens of spears exploded.
Simultaneously, a massive cloud of poison gas began to spread.
"Damn it?!"
Seong Woo-hyeon's scales corroded and melted.
Dragon Scale.
His power was said to be harder than diamonds, but the King of Disease's poison was even stronger.
Above all, there was another major factor.
'The cylinder...!'
Unable to hold out any longer, the cylinder lost its light.
The effects of the debuff, which had been partially offset, intensified. As the foul stench of the poison stung his nostrils, Seong Woo-hyeon felt his head spin.
Lee Min-hwa hurriedly created a wall of fire, but with her flames so weakened, it couldn't block the gas completely.
"How is that even possible?!"
Kim Hyo-jong shrieked as he swung his sword wildly, but to little effect.
[This is the end for you.]
The King of Disease clicked his tongue in pity.
The poison mist crept closer to the people, and those who had lost their will to fight could only stare blankly, unable to move.
It was at that moment.
*Fwoosh.*
A black flame erupted, incinerating all the spears of disease, including the spreading poison.
[Hmm.]
The King of Disease's eyes twitched as he shifted his gaze toward the entrance.
To nullify his attack so easily. It was something that shouldn't have been possible.
He was curious who had done it.
And the moment he saw a man shrouded in black energy, the King of Disease felt a shiver run down his spine.
There stood someone so extraordinary that it made every sense in his body stand on end.
[So you've finally arrived.]
***
*Fwoosh!*
I rushed past the Chimera waiting for me on the 3rd floor and headed to the next.
The Chimera, which had puffed up its body to fight me, looked on in confusion as it followed my back with its eyes. The next moment, soldiers emerged from the darkness and slaughtered it instantly.
Their performance is guaranteed, I see.
At this pace, I'll reach the 8th floor, where the King of Disease lurks, in no time.
"Breath attack! Dodge it! To the corner!"
"Aaaargh!"
"My leg, my leg...!!"
As I reached the stairs to the 8th floor, a mix of sounds reached my ears.
It was hard to call it the sound of a fierce battle.
Rather, most of it was screams of pain and urgent shouts.
'Something's definitely wrong.'
The scene that greeted me on the 8th floor was a vision of hell.
Dozens of corpses, melted down to the bone, with only remnants of their clothing left.
Most of the cylinders people carried had lost their effectiveness, their lights extinguished.
On top of that, Hwang Chan-jin and the other guild masters were exhausted, and the King of Disease looked ready to finish them off.
"That's enough."
I drew up my mana and swung my sword.
The Black Flame erupted, swallowing the cloud of poison and the spears of disease whole.
"Kim Se-hyeon-nim!"
Seong Woo-hyeon called my name, his face bright.
He must have been quite glad to see me.
I gave a bitter smile and slowly walked forward.
The King of Disease expressed his admiration.
[To arrive so quickly. It seems less than 30 minutes have passed since you entered the 1st floor.]
"And that took a while because I was preparing."
I took a dimension stone from my belt and plunged it into the ground.
A clear blue light spread from the processed dimension stone, and the stuffy feeling in my nose and mouth began to disappear.
[Debuff, 'White Disease,' has been nullified.]
"Huh? I suddenly feel refreshed."
"My head felt heavy and my body was sluggish, but it's all gone now, isn't it?"
"Now we stand a chance!"
Those who had been weakly groaning instantly regained their vigor.
Even those who were breathing heavily from exhaustion looked much better.
Hwang Chan-jin, however, had a complicated expression.
"Kim Se-hyeon..."
"I trusted you with this, so why haven't you cleared it yet?"
"The cylinders we took from the Geumeumdal guys weren't as effective as I expected. On top of that, we had to fight the King of Disease while under a 50% debuff..."
Hwang Chan-jin irritably crumpled a plastic bottle and threw it on the ground.
A clear, yet slightly murky water spilled out.
"The saltwater, which should have been its weakness, had almost no effect. The existing strategy isn't working."
The existing strategy isn't working at all?
That can't be right.
While this change did drastically increase the difficulty, it should still have been possible to utilize the existing strategy in some way.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at the water from the bottle.
It was saltwater, but...
On a hunch, I asked Hwang Chan-jin.
"Hey, where did you get that saltwater?"
"I prepared it before entering the gate."
"That's why it's not working."
"What do you mean?"
I let out a scoff of disbelief.
This guy, Hwang Chan-jin. He only has a superficial understanding of the strategy this time, too.
'Just like last time.'
It was the same when he tried to get the Sa-in-geom.
The Sa-in-geom is a powerful early-game weapon, but if you don't know the exact acquisition conditions, you can end up wasting a lot of time.
He knew where the Sa-in-geom was sealed and how to get in.
He knew all that, but because he didn't know about the qualification needed to obtain it, I ended up taking it from him.
It's similar this time.
He knew saltwater was needed to defeat the King of Disease, but he didn't know what kind of saltwater was required.
'Come to think of it, Hwang Chan-jin seems to know a lot, but he's shown he's ignorant about strange, specific details.'
Once could be a coincidence.
But when it happens twice, I can't help but think deeper.
I barely managed to swallow the sharp retort I wanted to make.
"We'll talk about that later."
Right now, there's something else to focus on.
The King of Disease.
He had waited as long as he was going to, and was now sending a look that said, 'let's get started.'
I had dismissed Alpha just before arriving on the 8th floor.
He wasn't a card I was ready to show to this many people yet.
"We're sticking to the strategy. Got it?"
"...You seem to have a plan. Understood. I'll follow your lead for now."
We both gripped our swords and slowly approached the King of Disease.
The aura of black flames and pure white ice slowly spread around us.
Perhaps feeling a strange sense of pressure from our presence, the other guild masters didn't dare to intervene.
[Now this should be fun.]
The King of Disease curled his lips into a smile and launched the first attack.
Poison Blow.
A swing of his poison-laced arm, his most basic attack.
The poisonous aura and viruses surrounding his arm give it a wider range than it appears, so we have to move well out of the way.
'Exactly three steps back.'
*Tap, tap, tap.*
As if we had practiced beforehand, we retreated at the same time, covering the same distance.
The poison aura spreading from his swinging arm dissipated just 10 centimeters in front of us.
[Well dodged!]
The King of Disease laughed heartily and closed the distance again.
Poison Blow can be a combo of up to three consecutive strikes.
If we tried to counterattack after dodging just the first one, the follow-up attack would easily leave us near death.
So, we have to watch carefully until the pattern is completely finished.
*Tap, tap.*
For the second attack, two steps to the side.
If a third one comes, it's a downward smash pattern, so a light jump.
[Black Flame]
[Glacier]
After that, a brief opening appears. That's our window to deal damage, so we attack without hesitation.
[Guhk?!]
Slashed in an 'X' across his chest, the King of Disease flinched and stepped back.
Normally, he would have recovered easily, but the power of the Black Flame only produced a sizzling sound, preventing him from healing.
One of the reasons the King of Disease was difficult enough to be the boss of Chapter 9 was his overwhelming self-regeneration ability.
Just as the Salt Golem on the 1st floor and the Contaminated Slime on the 2nd had similar powers, the King of Disease was at the pinnacle of that ability.
'Just by stopping that, the difficulty drops sharply.'
As if to prove it, the King of Disease wore a bewildered expression.
***
"What in the world is that...?"
Watching Kim Se-hyeon and Hwang Chan-jin's movements, Lee Min-hwa murmured in disbelief.
"They're moving in perfect sync... And on top of that, they're deflecting all the attacks with minimal movement at the exact same time?"
"Even seeing it with my own eyes, it's hard to believe. It's like watching a team that has practiced together for a long time."
Seong Woo-hyeon also admired them quietly.
It wasn't just about their evasion.
The moment an opening appeared, their attack timing was also perfectly synchronized.
It was like watching a decalcomania.
'If I were to use a game analogy, it feels like watching two masters of the game playing together.'
Seong Woo-hyeon suddenly let out a dry laugh.
To think he'd make a game analogy when he'd barely played any games in his life.
It seemed he had been unconsciously influenced by the rumors that this world might be a game.
"Are we just going to stand here and watch? Shouldn't we help?"
"...I think it's better if we don't."
"Hmm? Don't tell me you can't use your strength because of what happened earlier?"
"That's not it. If we interfere unnecessarily, we might create dissonance. Sometimes subtraction is necessary. I think it would be best for us to move when those two are in danger."
"That makes sense."
Choi Dae-han nodded.
Soon, Choi Dae-han's eyes were fixed on the pair.
Among the newly awakened players who appeared after they had been away for a while, these two stood out.
In such a short time, they had caught up to the heights they had achieved—people whose abilities couldn't be described simply as 'talent'.
"Heh heh."
Choi Dae-han stroked his beard without realizing it.
'Even so...'
Seong Woo-hyeon recalled what Kim Ji-hyeon had said.
That there was something strange about Kim Se-hyeon.
That while he wasn't a regressor, she had a strange feeling that he knew the future.
Suddenly, Seong Woo-hyeon remembered something he had heard a long time ago.
'Beware the one who knows an unnatural amount.'
Seong Woo-hyeon's eyes slowly darkened.
An unforgettable event from the past.
Words made even more unforgettable because he had been betrayed by the very person who said them.
However, Seong Woo-hyeon soon shook his head.
'No. The present is more important than something uncertain.'
Seong Woo-hyeon closed his eyes and then opened them, his gaze following Kim Se-hyeon.
'The fact that his presence allows us to move forward. That's more important. For that, I can endure anything.'
A cool light gleamed in Seong Woo-hyeon's eyes.
'At least for now.'