Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The End of the Tutorial (2)
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"They're coming again! Everyone, get ready!"
After moving a bit further like that, the monsters struck once more.
"Kieeeek!"
"Everyone, be careful. I-seo, take out the archers first!"
"Got it, old man!"
Whoosh—
Thud!
"Keeek...!"
Kang I-seo sensibly started picking off the ones with bows first. Just like before, Ho-won Uncle blocked with his shield while the melee fighters took out the ones up front.
I held my mace and shield, ready to swap in if anyone up front started tiring.
"...Urk!"
It wasn't long before An Tae-woo, thrusting his spear through gaps in the line, got grazed by one of their blades. Blood began flowing from his arm.
"Tae-woo, fall back!"
I immediately swapped places with An Tae-woo and started blocking their attacks with my shield. Unlike Ho-won Uncle's large shield, mine was a small buckler, so I couldn't let my guard down completely.
'Just hold out and buy time...!'
If I could just buy time, Seo Yu-ju and Kang I-seo would whittle down their numbers.
"...!"
Suddenly, excruciating pain shot through my foot. Gritting my teeth against it, I checked and saw one of them had stabbed a dagger right through my foot.
'I can't fall back here.'
If I retreated now because of the pain, the front line would collapse. I immediately smashed the head of the one that stabbed me with my mace.
Crack—
"Kek!"
With limited space to swing, I couldn't put full force into it, so the thing didn't die—it just flew back.
"...Guh...!"
The pain was too much to bear. An arm wound might've been one thing, but with my foot pierced like this, even standing was agony.
"...Yun-seong?!"
Seo Yu-ju must have noticed something off about me. She eyed me over and spotted the wound on my foot.
She bit her lip, then thrust her spear twice in an instant. The heads of two charging monsters exploded.
'C-crazy...!'
"Yun-seong, fall back! Get healed first...!"
"...No. If I pull out now... the line will... "
Kang I-seo had checked my condition too. She stopped shooting, came over, and snatched my shield and mace.
"Hey! No heroics. I'll hold the front for a bit, so hurry back and get treated!"
Right away, Yu-rim and Yu-hyeon helped me to the rear.
"Hyung! Hang in there! I'll...!"
Grab.
I caught Yu-hyeon's hand as he tried to heal me and spoke up.
"...Yu-hyeon. How much mana... do you have left?"
"...Hyung."
"Not much, right? Then... don't heal me."
"Oppa! What are you saying?! Your foot's completely pierced...!"
"...I'm a dark sorcerer anyway. If I can't hold the front, I'll cast from the rear. Don't waste your mana on me."
With only Yu-hyeon as our priest, using precious mana on me now would make things tough against the boss monster later.
The others didn't know about the boss yet, but thanks to Seo Yu-ju's words, I was mostly convinced it existed.
'At the very least... heal the melee fighters holding the front besides me.'
Sorcerers could just cast from the back. If a boss targeted the rear unluckily, I could get healed then.
'It's not just healing. If you heal me now, Yu-hyeon might not have mana for shields later.'
I'd considered getting healed, resting a day in the dungeon to recover mana, then tackling the boss—but it was too risky.
'...The longer we drag this out, the more attacks might keep coming.'
"I'm fine for healing. Just... stop the bleeding... ugh..."
In the end, respecting my wishes, Yu-rim and Yu-hyeon nodded with dark expressions.
Once the fight ended, Seo Yu-ju's eyes widened at the sight of me still untreated.
"...Yun-seong?! Why didn't you get healed? Yu-hyeon?!"
"I told Yu-hyeon not to heal me."
"What?"
Seo Yu-ju looked utterly baffled. Beside her, Kang I-seo started in on me too.
"Hey?! What the hell? Why not get healed? I told you no heroics...!"
"Yu-hyeon barely has any mana left."
They both shut up at my words.
"I can cast from the rear. Save the heals for when someone up front gets hurt later."
Seo Yu-ju probably knew this too. She just wasn't thinking straight because I was hurt.
She did tend to lose a bit of reason when it came to things involving me.
Yu-rim voiced the thought I'd had.
"Oppa, then can't you get healed, rest a day in the dungeon, and recover mana?"
I watched Seo Yu-ju's reaction to confirm my guess. Sure enough, she answered immediately.
"...No, that's too dangerous. The longer we take to clear, the more attacks might keep coming."
'As I thought.'
This dungeon felt like a time attack. The faster the clear, the better; the slower, the harder it got.
'...No matter how I look at it, the difficulty is insane. How the hell did we clear this in the first round?'
Ho-won Uncle, who'd been quiet, spoke up.
"...I'm sorry, but Yun-seong's right. I think we should conserve healing too."
"...Got it. Everyone, let's move again. Yun-seong, stay in the rear and be careful. Ha-eun, can you support Yun-seong?"
"Y-yes..."
"Moving out."
As we walked, Kang I-seo sidled up beside me with a smirk.
"Hey, if you can't walk at all, just say so. I can carry you."
"Pfft... no... thanks. You save your heroics."
"Oh, banmal now? What's with the sudden change of heart?"
"...Ahem... I meant don't get cocky, I-seo. You'll snap your back."
I must've felt closer without realizing, slipping into informal speech.
"Ah, why formal again? Just use banmal."
"I'm worried about your back, I-seo. You'll get hurt. All that swagger."
I teased her a bit, and she whispered back.
"Oh yeah? What if I hurt my back a different way?"
It took me ten seconds to get her meaning, and I flushed.
"Puhahaha! Look at that blush. Hehng~ So don't act all big. Got it, cutie Yun-seong? Puhuhuhu..."
Song Ha-eun, watching from the side, spoke up to Kang I-seo.
"W-what are you doing to an injured patient?!"
"Aigoo... she's hooked bad."
We bantered pointlessly like that, moving slowly for about 30 minutes, until a massive black iron door loomed ahead.
"...This is."
Everyone marveled at the enormous door underground.
'The boss monster's room.'
"Whoa... friggin' huge. Bet something's behind this."
Everyone instinctively sensed something lay beyond. Seo Yu-ju paused, then addressed us all.
"...This seems like the end of the dungeon. Probably the final fight. Everyone, be careful."
Everyone swallowed hard. As tension peaked at reaching the tutorial's end, Ho-won Uncle spoke.
"Then... I'll open the door."
Rumble—rrrrrr.
The door was so massive that its opening echoed through the entire cave.
Beyond it sat a single throne. On it lounged a monster slightly larger than a human.
Its body was black, and aside from size and color, it looked just like the ones we'd fought.
The standout feature: a hefty halberd gripped in its hand.
It opened its closed eyes and spoke in human tongue.
"...Humans after so long, Kerruk."
Everyone but Seo Yu-ju looked shocked that it spoke.
"What the...? Shit, this bastard talks?!"
"Shut your trap, human wench. Kerruk."
"......"
Kang I-seo gaped, stunned that the monster had told her to shut up.
"This one speaks, and you dare... butt in? Filth like you, Kerruk."
The monster rose from the throne and slowly approached us.
"I'll rip you all to shreds, vermin. Kerruk. Fresh human meat after ages, Kerruk."
Seo Yu-ju gripped her spear with both hands.
"Everyone, battle stations! It wields a halberd, so dodging over blocking. Yun-seong, Ha-eun, I-seo—attack from the rear. Ho-won, watch the rear's safety just in case."
Ho-won Uncle nodded.
"Got it."
The moment our talk ended, it kicked off and charged.
'Fast...!'
Seo Yu-ju barely sidestepped the halberd swing and slashed back with her spear.
Slash—
"Grr... human woman...! Kerruk!"
It hadn't expected her speed; its side got nicked.
Song Ha-eun's wind spirit immediately blasted it with gusts, but it rolled aside, dodged, and charged her.
"Die, vermin! Kerruk!"
Boom!
"Ngh...!"
Ho-won Uncle leaped in and blocked the halberd. The impact was brutal—blood trickled from his mouth.
"Old man!"
"I'm fine...! Shoot this bastard—!"
The monster dropped its halberd to dodge Kang I-seo's arrow, then rushed Ho-won Uncle and kicked his shield.
Clang!
"...Guh!"
Ho-won Uncle couldn't withstand the force and fell back. As it grabbed its halberd to swing down—
"Ignite, Flames!"
⟨ Flame Burst ⟩
Roar—
I'd timed it perfectly and slammed my prepared spell into its back.
"Graaaah! Kerruk! You damned pest...! Kerruk!"
Unlike the small fry, it didn't flail with fire clinging—it took damage and backed off, wary.
As combat stalled, Hyun-jin spoke up.
"This guy's surprisingly nimble for his size."
Everyone agreed. Its power was one thing, but its speed and flexibility belied its bulk.