Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Outcome of Choice (8)
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Landing on the same platform as the coward wasn't a coincidence.
I saw his path and intentionally created that situation.
But when you think about it, it was all his own doing.
Since he was trying to push others to take their platforms, everyone became wary and wouldn't let him get close, forcing him to move farther away.
As a result, he had no choice but to get closer to me.
If there had been two footprints, it would have been tricky for me to get him killed, especially with the angels watching.
But by chance, there was only one footprint.
If this isn't divine punishment, what is?
Shhh...
The darkness subsided.
At the same time, I shot forward as if propelled.
Because I had expanded the pattern's area, most of the goblins had been eliminated, but one remained.
The Goblin Shaman, influenced by the frenzy, isn't consumed by the pattern.
I had to defeat that one with pure skill alone.
CRACK!!
The spot where the staff struck caved in.
Smashing the ground with wood—it was absurd.
The black energy enveloping the staff must be the cause.
‘First, I'll make sure to trap the remaining goblins in the pattern.’
I inflicted minor wounds on the Goblin Shaman as I moved behind it.
The goblins that couldn't easily join the fight seized the opportunity and charged, but they couldn't keep up with my speed.
Fwoosh!
Finally, when the pattern's area expanded to the gate's surroundings, covering all the space occupied by the goblins, the next pattern activated.
“Kyaaak!”
“Krrk!”
The final, sixth one.
There were barely enough platforms for the people the pattern was originally for; it was impossible for any to be allocated to the goblins.
With this, all goblins except the shaman were annihilated.
If I could safely clear the pattern and then deal with the shaman, it would all be over.
“Kuaaaak!!!”
The Goblin Shaman moved first.
I had no reason to counter its reckless attack, so I let it pass, but I soon noticed something strange.
When an attack misses, it should stop and figure out my next move, but it didn't.
It didn't stop. It kept running.
‘The platform…!’
It isn't affected by the pattern.
But that doesn't mean it can't be overcome.
Its objective was crystal clear.
By standing on the platform itself, it would leave me no space to stand, causing me to fail the pattern.
Sure enough, confident that it would arrive first, it glanced at me with a smirk.
I quickly prepared to throw my shield.
In that moment, Lee Seong-chan's face flashed through my mind.
“...”
The hesitation was brief.
KWAANG!!
Despite seeing the shield flying toward the back of its head, it failed to block in time and took the full impact.
The shield Lee Seong-chan left behind when he died.
A strange bitterness washed over me for a moment, but that was all.
The shield clattered loudly as it hit the floor.
The creature staggered, losing its balance.
“Kroooo...!!”
While it writhed in pain and collapsed, I reached the platform with the single footprint first.
However, the crisis wasn't completely over.
The Goblin Shaman used its advantage of being unaffected by the pattern to attack me even while the darkness spread.
If I step off the platform, the darkness will swallow me.
In the end, I had to defeat it without moving from this spot.
And it also knew that its victory was assured if I just stepped off the platform.
“Kuaak!”
The staff twitched and grew to the size of a concrete pillar.
A dry laugh escaped me.
I'm supposed to dodge that thing while staying on this platform? It's thicker than the platform is wide.
No way. That's impossible.
Just bringing it down from above would cover the entire platform, so how could I?
If I tried to block it, my body would be crushed, and a sideways swing would obviously send me flying from the force.
‘I'm sure of it.’
This thing is far stronger than what I remember.
The difficulty must have been adjusted somewhere again.
I immediately looked beyond the platform.
If the attack came in the trajectory I expected, there was only one answer.
I had to leave the platform.
Whoosh!
The thing that could no longer be called a staff swung down from above.
It was the trajectory I had feared most.
Standing on one foot on the platform, I couldn't block it properly, and dodging meant stepping off.
Checkmate.
It seemed to think so too, as the corners of its mouth stretched into a wide grin.
“Se-hyeon-ssi!!!”
The moment the club descended right above my head, accompanied by several screams.
Without hesitation, I threw myself off the platform.
“Hyung!”
“Oppa!!”
The twins' desperate screams echoed in my ears.
The darkness had already spread across the floor like sticky tar.
The light on the activated platform went out.
From now on, it was as if I had failed the pattern.
The price for failure was death.
The darkness, which had been slithering on the ground, surged up to grab me.
If it caught me, it would be over.
“Kyak kyak kyak...!”
The Goblin Shaman laughed openly, turning its head to follow my movement.
Its expression showed not a shred of doubt that I would die, as if it had expected this all along.
But I hadn't given up.
‘As if I'd die in a place like this.’
Thud!
I landed on a temporary foothold not far away.
It was the round shield that had hit the back of its head and fallen to the floor.
The darkness's target was fundamentally only 'living beings,' so it hadn't bothered to swallow the shield.
The enraged darkness rushed to devour the shield, so I leaped again.
With two leaps, I successfully got behind the Goblin Shaman.
This is the last chance.
“Kyak...!?”
The startled Goblin Shaman hurriedly swung its weapon.
A trajectory as straightforward as its haste.
But since I was airborne, my movement was restricted.
[Skill, 'Extreme Eye' is activated.]
When to twist my body.
How to attack after dodging.
The scene played out in my mind like a short highlight reel.
One chance.
No mistakes allowed.
‘I can do this.’
I pushed my concentration to its absolute limit.
The club slowly approached, and the moment it was in a straight line with me.
Taat!
I stepped on it and leaped once more.
The sudden acceleration closed the distance in an instant.
The moment the Goblin Shaman's now-huge eyes met mine.
Shink!
As cleanly as possible, I slashed its neck.
“Gurg...!”
Gushing purple blood from its severed artery, it staggered and then fell backward.
But I couldn't let my guard down.
The darkness was still chasing me.
‘I have to get back to the platform…!’
I focused all my senses.
I was still in mid-air.
I didn't have the ability to double jump, so I had to reach the platform in this single arc.
Before, I had the shield and the Goblin Shaman's club.
But this time, there was nothing similar I could use as a foothold.
‘A little too fast.’
A cold sweat ran down my back.
Perhaps because I'd pushed off so hard to add power to my slash against its darkness-enhanced neck, my flight speed was faster than expected.
If I continued at this speed, I would either overshoot the platform or, even if I landed on it by chance, I'd likely lose my balance and fall.
My thoughts accelerated.
I had to find a way to slow down.
Nothing I bought from Old Master Wang would be useful.
The only thing I could use was my sword.
‘What can I do with this…’
Just then, the Goblin Shaman's body fell completely flat on the ground.
My eyes lit up.
Something I could do with the sword.
There was one thing.
Puk!
I reached my arm back and plunged the Sa-in-geom into the space between its eyes with all my might.
I felt the squishy sensation of flesh gripping the blade, and my momentum slowed.
Seeing that I might make it to the platform, the enraged darkness surged like a wave.
Dammit. They're charging without being deterred by the power of the Sa-in-geom.
I can't let go now. If I let go right now, I won't make it to the platform.
Just a little longer.
‘Now!’
The moment I judged I had slowed down enough to land on the platform, I let go of the sword.
The darkness that had almost touched me receded again.
As I landed on the platform, it reactivated, and the encroaching 'darkness' that had been piercingly close stopped its advance and slunk back to its place.
Only then could I let out a long breath.
It was truly by a hair's breadth.
If the platform's reactivation had been even a little slower, I would have been devoured by the darkness.
‘The variables were too great.’
Wiping away my sweat, I glared at the gate.
The pattern was the one I knew, but the boss, the Goblin Shaman, was completely different.
If I had made my decisions even a fraction of a second later, I would have been done for.
Shwaaa...
The space slowly healed itself and then vanished as if it had never been there.
The gate had been successfully closed.
[Conditions met.]
[Acquired the hidden reward, Trait: 'Lord of Darkness (S)'.]
I even got the thing I was aiming for.
Surviving the frenzied gate's pattern to the very end, while simultaneously using that pattern to kill a large number of goblins and defeat the boss affected by the frenzy.
Those were the conditions to obtain this trait.
‘With this, I won't even think about not getting the Authority of Flames.’
When I lightly circulated my mana, darkness flowed over my hand like a puppy.
Satisfying. From now on, I can focus on raising my mana.
After dismissing the system message, my eyes naturally fell upon the space where the gate had been.
Something remained in the spot where it had disappeared.
As I went to pick it up, a strange sensation spread through my fingertips.
[Anomalous Dimension Stone]
A mineral not found on Earth.
Its use is unknown.
“...Was there an item like this?”
I furrowed my brow and thought, but nothing came to mind.
An item not in my memories.
Naturally, the image of the Goblin Shaman, which was so different from my memories, came to mind.
The unusually drastic variable and the unknown item.
It was impossible not to connect the two.
‘I'll have to check on this later.’
I put the dimension stone into my inventory.
I had no way of identifying it right now anyway.
The corpse had vanished in the meantime, so I retrieved the Sa-in-geom, which was now stuck in the ground, and approached the group.
Everyone looked speechless.
“What did I just see...?”
Jeong Ha-yeon barely managed to speak.
As if they had been waiting for someone to say it, several people nodded in unison.
“Shouldn't you be worried about me first?”
When I said it with a chuckle, Jeong Ha-yeon gave an awkward smile.
“I believed in you, Hyung!”
“So you weren't worried?”
“If you put it like that...”
Jo Min-woo scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed.
Joking around like this made me feel that I was truly, safely alive.
“Anyway, Hyung, you were amazing! I totally fell for you! That part where you jumped on the club in mid-air and leaped again was so insane I almost lost it...”
“Hey, don't cling to Oppa so much. He must be tired.”
Jo Min-ah stopped the excited Jo Min-woo.
Watching them, the tension suddenly drained from me, and a wave of exhaustion washed over.
I shook my head to clear it.
It wasn't over yet. I couldn't rest already.
“I never thought you'd be able to take down a creature like that all by yourself...”
“Didn't I tell you? He's the real deal.”
“I just didn't know he was *this* good.”
I could feel that the way Kim Ji-hyeon and Lee Seon-yul looked at me had changed significantly.
It seems they haven't given up on scouting me yet.
Nam Sang-jin, who was nearby, also had an unusual look in his eyes.
[Wow, this guy's a real psycho.]
Just then, the devil, who had vanished at some point, spoke to me in my head.
Thinking about that bastard who caused such a mess and then ran off to watch made the bit of relief I'd felt instantly evaporate.
“What is it? You here to pick another fight?”
[No. I just thought you were more impressive than I expected. Ah, and this is a genuine compliment. You're really amazing.]
The devil covered his mouth and snickered.
This guy is giving a genuine compliment?
I'd sooner believe the Angel of Benevolence gives out coins for every kill.
[‘The Devil Who Mocks the Heavens’ nods as if in acknowledgement.]