Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Double Dungeon-4
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‘A Golden Gargoyle, huh? Thanks for setting the stage like this?’
The gale grew even fiercer as time passed.
The other hunters couldn’t even open their eyes in this situation.
It was the perfect timing to summon the Dark Sider.
Ding.
[The Golden Gargoyle possesses immense vitality. If you fail to inflict fatal damage, it will recover its health.]
As he moved to confront it, the previous warning popped up again.
If he couldn’t land a fatal blow, it would recover its health.
The phrase brought to mind the new skill he’d acquired not long ago.
‘It’s a summon specialized for tough bastards like this.’
A summon effective against monsters boasting insane regeneration like trolls.
That was the Dark Sider.
‘Huh?’
As he drew near the boss monster, it snatched him up with its thick arm.
The movement was slow enough to dodge visually, but he couldn’t evade it.
[The Golden Gargoyle recognizes you as its top priority target.]
[Your movement is restricted for a set duration.]
Along with the message, his body stiffened up.
‘Whoa. That’s interesting.’
Was this a special ability of the boss monster?
Or had the system intervened?
He didn’t know what it was, but it felt like a force he could shake off with a bit of effort.
‘Let’s see what it does.’
He decided to stay still and observe its patterns.
This was the first boss monster the hunter troops had ever faced.
It might appear in other dungeons beyond this double dungeon.
Gathering intel on it now would allow for effective countermeasures next time.
‘And that turns into performance metrics.’
As he nodded to himself and waited.
The Golden Gargoyle’s massive arm wrapped around his body.
Was it planning to crush him with brute force?
Flutter!
Contrary to expectations, the boss monster flapped its enormous wings and soared upward.
Then, it flew toward another space.
“Urk! Sergeant Kim Min-jun!”
“Battalion Commander! Sergeant Kim Min-jun’s been grabbed by it!”
“Damn it! Why isn’t this wind dying down at all?”
“Don’t even think about shooting! You might hit Sergeant Kim Min-jun! Got it?”
“…Understood!”
The squad members couldn’t put up much resistance against the gale.
In the end, they could only squint and watch as Kim Min-jun was carried off.
“I’m fine! Don’t worry! I’ll handle it quick and come back!”
Unlike the desperately shouting squad members, Kim Min-jun remained calm.
“Man, you’re huge, but damn fast. Should’ve just flown in attacking from the start.”
He even admired its flight speed.
He advised that skipping the windstorm and charging with body slams would’ve been more effective.
“Hey, can’t you talk? Lame.”
“…….”
The Golden Gargoyle glanced at his face before accelerating even faster.
**
They soon arrived at a massive cavern.
The boss monster’s previous chamber had been spacious, but this place was twice as big.
[You have arrived at the Golden Gargoyle’s lair.]
[The Golden Gargoyle’s health increases by 100%.]
[Movement restriction lifted.]
“Oh. So that’s why it dragged me here—for a buff? Smart one.”
Kim Min-jun casually exerted some force to slip free from its grip, then surveyed the surroundings.
These spots usually hid treasures or something, but there was nothing.
Just an empty space.
“Come on in, then. I’ll play with you.”
He beckoned it with a finger.
Planning to dodge for a while to gauge its attack patterns.
Thud! Thud!
The Golden Gargoyle’s attack patterns were completely different from regular gargoyles.
While normal ones bit with their teeth, this golden-muscled pig was all straightforward brute force.
It just swung its arms, flailed its wings, and rammed its body.
“Strong, and its movements aren’t bad for its size.”
The ground cratered under its assaults.
Any other hunter hit by those would suffer severe injuries at best, death at worst.
Among all monsters encountered so far, the boss Golden Gargoyle was the strongest.
“And it has monstrous vitality on top of that.”
After about thirty minutes of evasion and analysis, he’d pinpointed several key traits.
The system warned via messages when the boss performed specific actions.
The powerful gale from their first encounter wouldn’t happen again.
And it only used its wings for attacks, never taking to the air.
“Ah. My monstrous observation skills are terrifying.”
In the past.
His observation skills, honed crossing the line between life and death, had dismantled the boss’s main patterns in mere minutes.
“It rests for about thirty seconds every five minutes. That’s plenty.”
Its fist came charging in again.
This time, he didn’t dodge. He raised one hand to block.
Flinch.
The Golden Gargoyle seemed startled and pulled back slightly.
As if gripped by fear.
“Come out.”
Kim Min-jun swung his hand through the air.
Shhh.
Black mist gathered around, and the Dark Sider soon materialized.
[Thank you for summoning me, Kim Min-jun.]
Upon appearing, the Dark Sider prostrated itself on the ground.
It might dominate other warlocks, but with Kim Min-jun, it was utterly subservient.
Thus, it assumed a posture of absolute obedience.
“Yeah. See that golden fatso in front of you? Drain its life force until only its head’s left.”
[A simple task. Leave it to me.]
The Dark Sider’s greatest strength lay in absorbing life force.
To be precise, it absorbed the target’s vitality along with its regenerative abilities.
No matter how immense the monster’s vitality, it only prolonged the inevitable.
Death.
‘And it has one more bonus effect.’
Even by that ability alone, the Dark Sider was a powerhouse summon.
Physical attacks didn’t faze it in the slightest, yet it packed devastating offensive power.
On top of that, it could craft items using the absorbed life force.
It didn’t demand such steep costs from its summoner for nothing.
[To think this lowly wretch dares defy Kim Min-jun.]
The Dark Sider flew right up to the boss monster’s face and extended its hand.
Shhhhhh.
Green energy began leaking from the creature’s skin.
Its life force and regenerative power.
“Groooargh!”
The Golden Gargoyle, silent until now, finally sensed the threat and flailed its arms wildly.
But physical attacks were useless against the Dark Sider.
Its punches sliced through empty air.
[Pathetic. Be grateful that your abundant life force will aid Kim Min-jun, and die happy.]
“Kraaaargh!”
As its body rotted away from the neck down, the Golden Gargoyle met its end.
Normally, it would’ve required two fully prepared companies.
No, three companies’ worth of firepower.
This boss monster, which could’ve caused massive casualties, was eliminated in just forty minutes.
By a single human, no less.
Ding.
[You have cleared the dungeon.]
[You have defeated the boss monster.]
[All mazes are unlocked.]
[The dungeon exit has been generated.]
A moment later.
The clear message appeared.
[You have defeated the boss monster.]
[As a reward for the kill, all stats increase by 1.]
Generous rewards befitting its formidable specs.
He hadn’t expected every stat to rise.
“Nice. Number 44’s the real deal.”
[I’m honored to be of service, Kim Min-jun.]
He’d secured samples, soloed the boss for top metrics, and more.
And that wasn’t all.
He’d mapped out most of the boss’s attack patterns.
“Can’t wait to see what rewards the hunter corps coughs up.”
Of course, it wasn’t just their rewards he anticipated.
That golden pouch in the Dark Sider’s hand.
Clearly an item dropped from the boss monster.
[This came from its body.]
He took the item from his summon.
It looked like a drawstring pouch.
Curious about its nature, the system obligingly displayed a window.
[Golden Gargoyle’s Pouch]
An item obtainable with 1% probability upon defeating the boss monster, Golden Gargoyle.
It can store items of any volume up to a certain weight limit.
Items stored inside remain in optimal condition at all times.
Weight limit: 500 kg.
The pouch itself always weighs 1 kg.
“What the hell? This is awesome.”
His lips curled into a grin.
He hadn’t expected to snag an item straight out of a fantasy flick.
“Sweet. I was just thinking how nice one of these would be. And here it is.”
Not that it was handed over easily.
It required beating 1% odds.
“Now that I think about it, wonder what would’ve happened if I’d picked Luck as a new stat.”
Would stuff like this drop in droves?
Might feel a bit regretful then.
‘But perpetual motion’s still king.’
Pushing aside the fleeting regret, he opened the pouch toward the Dark Sider, creating space inside.
“Number 44. Purification done? If so, put the soul stones in here.”
[Yes, understood.]
At his command, the Dark Sider waved its hand a few times.
Purple-tinged stones rained down from the air.
The Dark Sider’s second ability.
‘Soul stones. That’s why I didn’t have to lift a finger.’
The Dark Sider could refine absorbed life force into soul stones.
‘Let’s see. One soul stone for instant minor injury healing. Two for severed limbs, right?’
The soul stones’ effects would make any priest faint in shock.
Items granting massive recovery without side effects were rare gems in Isgard or here in Korea.
‘And they’re a pain to store, but this item handles that.’
Stats gained, item acquired, soul stones obtained, metrics secured.
The gains from this dungeon were astronomical.
“Number 44. How long until next summon?”
[About five days.]
“Five days. Got it.”
The Dark Sider’s main drawback was its cooldown.
A long wait between summons.
Adding body parts could negate that, but Kim Min-jun had no intention of doing so.
“Good work. Head back.”
He dismissed the summon and hoisted the boss monster’s head.
“S-Sergeant Kim Min-jun?”
“Is that… the boss monster’s head?”
By then.
The arriving hunters stared at him in stunned horror.