Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: ACT.19 Gate, Beyond (4)
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“You’ve already obtained the Black Flame?”
Hwang Chan-jin said, clicking his tongue lightly.
“It shouldn't be a power you can get at this point in time.”
“I didn't exactly intend to get this.”
Just as Hwang Chan-jin said, the Black Flame isn't a power one can obtain so early.
Nor is it a power one can get just by wanting it.
Considering the many restrictions and conditions attached to such a powerful ability, I had obtained it quite easily and quickly.
‘A case where the subsidiary effect is better than the main one.’
The first condition to obtain the Black Flame is to already possess a fire or darkness attribute.
The clues for that are already available in the early stages.
For instance, Han Hyeok-jun's ‘Authority of Flames’ or my ‘Lord of Darkness’.
Based on those, one could obtain the higher-tier power of the Black Flame.
Instead, in my case, a very peculiar situation arose where it was incorporated as a subsidiary of my existing darkness attribute.
Compared to the real Black Flame, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference right now, but I don't know what will happen later on.
[So there was a reason for your confidence.]
The King of Disease glared at me.
Hwang Chan-jin's Glacier could only slow its regeneration speed slightly; it wasn't very effective.
It had immediately realized that my Black Flame was what directly affected its regeneration.
[However, this is not enough.]
*Hup*, it exerted its strength, and the wound healed in an instant.
Its regenerative power was astonishing, no matter how many times I saw it.
To think it could overcome the drastic reduction in its regeneration and recovery rates caused by Encroachment.
“Was that bastard's regeneration strong enough to easily overcome the Black Flame?”
“Not easily. The Black Flame doesn't disappear until the target is dead.”
It was putting on an unfazed expression, but it hadn't completely overcome the Black Flame.
*Sizzzle...*
If you looked closely, the wounded area was continuously burning away.
An endless cycle of healing and burning.
The pain continued indefinitely, without end.
The resulting agony must have been considerable, yet the King of Disease showed no sign of it.
[You've brought something interesting. But how long can you last with just that?]
*Fwoosh!*
Suddenly, a thick poisonous mist obscured our vision.
At the same time, the offset rate for the 'White Death' debuff began to drop.
Thanks to the Dimension Stone, the rate of decline was slow, but there's a difference between having a debuff and not having one at all.
“Getting hit once or twice is one thing, but you think we'll just keep taking it!”
Lee Min-hwa shouted from the back as she stepped forward.
Having recovered enough stamina, a destructive flame swept through the poisonous mist, just like when I first saw her.
The players' admiration for the Flame Lord was short-lived.
The poisonous mist, which seemed to have been momentarily blocked, was perfectly fine.
Lee Min-hwa, who had stepped forward so boldly, widened her eyes in bewilderment.
“It has no effect...?”
[If you thought you could purify it with fire, you are too naive. Kim Se-hyeon, was it? Even with his Black Flame, he cannot stop this.]
The poisonous mist grew thicker.
As the King of Disease said, that poisonous mist couldn't be removed by any power.
Except for one method.
“Catch!”
I took out two plastic bottles from my inventory and threw one to Hwang Chan-jin.
Hwang Chan-jin caught the bottle, opened the cap, and sniffed it.
Then, he frowned.
“Didn't I just say that saltwater doesn't really work?”
“This one's different, just try it.”
*Glug, glug, glug.*
I poured the saltwater I had stored in the bottle onto my sword.
At a glance, it looked like I was pouring water on a fire, but the two didn't conflict.
The King of Disease, recognizing what it was, arched its eyebrows dramatically.
[How did you...?!]
“It was in your tower. You should know better than anyone.”
I charged toward the poisonous mist.
Slicing through fog with a sword is beyond common sense.
But this was a different case.
*Shwaaa...*
As I swung my sword, a chunk of the poisonous mist vanished.
The saltwater, made from the rock salt of a Salt Golem and purified water, had the power to cleanse all the toxins and viruses the King of Disease possessed.
Judging only by the fact that no power could stop the mist from spreading, it seemed ridiculously overpowered.
However, the reality was the opposite.
The poisonous mist pattern was something that could be eliminated without using any special powers at all.
“Why is the one you gave me effective, Kim Se-hyeon!?”
“What was on the first floor?”
“Well...”
Hwang Chan-jin, about to answer, flinched and narrowed his eyes.
It seemed he had realized.
“Its weakness isn't ordinary saltwater. First, you have to use the rock salt from the Salt Golem on the first floor. Second, you have to use purified water, not regular water. It's the King of Disease; it's not like just any saltwater would work, right?”
“So that's why...”
Hwang Chan-jin looked at the bottle with a complicated expression, then poured about half of it onto his sword.
Then, he too charged into the poisonous mist and swung his sword.
[Kgh... !]
Purified saltwater and Black Flame.
Either one alone was fatal, but being assaulted while coated in both, the King of Disease had no choice but to become passive.
The poisonous mist was rendered completely ineffective by the saltwater, and with Hwang Chan-jin emitting a chill that significantly slowed its spread, it became even more meaningless.
*Shwack!*
I sliced through the numerous tentacles extending from its arms, pushed forward, and cut into its main body.
The sizzling sound of burning tickled my ears.
[Kuaaack!]
Regeneration suppression and purification.
With both eating away at its body simultaneously, the pain must have been immense.
The King of Disease retreated a good distance, and several greenish spears materialized.
This was a pattern that didn't originally exist.
If it's a pattern I don't recognize, there's only one possibility.
I spoke to Hwang Chan-jin in a chiding tone.
“Why did you use a skill?”
“...I knew, but I was in a hurry.”
The King of Disease mimics and modifies a player's skill if it's able to.
Hwang Chan-jin must have created a spear of ice or something.
The ones who raise the difficulty of fighting the King of Disease are none other than the players themselves.
In other words, the way to prevent the King of Disease from showing 'new attack patterns' is for the players themselves not to give it an opening in the first place.
‘Attack using only basic attacks and its weakness.’
Before the spears could even launch, I swung my sword and cut them all down.
It was likely a vicious pattern where they would explode on contact, spreading toxins and viruses, but with the combined power of the Black Flame's annihilation and the saltwater's purification, it posed no threat at all.
[I'll get rid of that annoying thing first!]
The King of Disease threw its head back with all its might.
The toxins and viruses floating in the surrounding air began to gather into its slightly opened mouth.
The preparatory motion it made when using its breath attack that melted everything it touched.
At a glance, it seemed like an urgent situation requiring immediate evacuation from the area, but conversely, it was also a golden opportunity to attack without any interference.
“Hwang Chan-jin!”
“I know!”
We kicked off the ground simultaneously and rushed toward the King of Disease.
“I-It's dangerous!”
The players who had already experienced the power of its breath attack screamed in horror.
I knew it too.
Even with the Black Flame and saltwater, taking that breath head-on meant death.
That's only if I got hit.
And getting hit implies the opponent actually used the attack.
‘I'll make it so it can't be used in the first place.’
I opened the bottle and threw the saltwater in it straight at the King of Disease's face.
The saltwater was sucked into the mouth that was inhaling with enough force to draw in all the surrounding air.
[Hrk?!]
Immediately after, the King of Disease's face contorted, and it collapsed.
[Keok... Kghhh... W-What have you done...]
The King of Disease's body is a mass of toxins and viruses itself.
So, having ingested saltwater that purifies all of it, there was no way its body would be unharmed.
The power to forcibly put the boss into a groggy state.
That's why the saltwater was an essential requirement for defeating the King of Disease.
“How many times do you think I've cleared you?”
My sword swung.
The Black Flame burned its body, while the saltwater ravaged it inside and out.
The King of Disease doesn't have a lot of HP on its own. It just covers for that with its transcendent regeneration.
The moment its regeneration couldn't keep up with the speed of its body's destruction and it allowed me to get close, the King of Disease was no different from a low-HP pushover boss.
[Main Quest has been cleared.]
[You have acquired 2500 Coins as a reward.]
[Deaths by virus: 181]
[The death rate is unbelievably low.]
[A bonus is added for your outstanding performance.]
[You receive an increased difficulty bonus. The final reward is increased.]
[Recalculating rewards.]
[You have acquired 10000 Coins as a reward.]
In a fleeting moment, countless system messages appeared, densely filling my vision.
A long sigh of relief escaped me.
The end of the 9th chapter.
The 10th chapter, which would begin soon, and the events that followed flashed through my mind.
There's a saying that humans are scarier than monsters.
True to that saying, from now on, there would be more conflicts between people than battles with demonic beasts.
Just because I knew didn't mean I could stop it.
It was all arranged to happen that way.
“We got it! We got it!”
“We finally defeated it!”
“The virus is disappearing!”
The people who had been watching the situation with bated breath erupted in cheers.
Just a few minutes ago, they had been in a situation where they had all but given up on life.
Their joy must have been beyond words.
*Crack.*
The Dimension Stone I had planted in the ground cracked and lost its light.
It had fulfilled its role by blocking all the toxins and viruses emanating from the King of Disease's main body to its limit.
What a waste.
There aren't many ways to get them, so I wanted to save even one if possible.
“...”
Hwang Chan-jin still wore a complicated expression.
Seeing him deep in thought reminded me of the conversation I had with Jun Bo-ra before entering the Ark Gate.
‘At first, I suspected Hwang Chan-jin was the Strategy King.’
She had spoken in such a serious tone, I thought it was something important, but I was dumbfounded when she just laid out her misconception.
However, it did solve one mystery for me.
Why Jun Bo-ra didn't think I was the Strategy King at first.
It was because, in many aspects like playstyle, information, decisiveness, and manner of speaking, Hwang Chan-jin matched the profile of the Strategy King more than I did.
‘It's an understandable mistake.’
My current playstyle is different from when I used to stream the game.
I'm engaging in party play and causing incidents, rather than focusing on solo play.
Anyone who only watched the early to mid-parts of my 'End of Apocalypse' gameplay videos would inevitably make that mistake.
I only started playing like this after my viewer count dropped to zero.
And I didn't even upload the videos, so even more so.
‘In that sense, Hwang Chan-jin hasn't played it himself either.’
Playing it himself would mean he had tried it.
If he had tried, he should have known the result—whether it worked or not.
But Hwang Chan-jin knew the 'result', yet was ignorant of the 'process'.
In other words.
‘There's a high probability that Hwang Chan-jin is also one of the people who watched my past streams.’
That was a plausible deduction.
Since I'm the Strategy King, it's obvious no one else could be.
I stared blankly at Hwang Chan-jin.
In his current agitated state, it wouldn't be a bad idea to test the waters.
I tossed out a question casually, as if asking what he did yesterday.
“You knew saltwater was needed, so how come you didn't know exactly what kind of saltwater it had to be?”
“That's because, in what I saw, it was clearly...”
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Hwang Chan-jin quickly shut his mouth with a look of dismay and glared at me fiercely.