The Prey in the Mire

It was the same survival theme as the second floor. The only difference was that this mission forced players to work together.

- Back to the wetlands again.

“You’re not even the one stepping foot in it. Aren’t you being a bit too dramatic?”

- This goddess finds the very sight of it displeasing.

The sticky, sucking swamp. Just like during the tutorial, it was a field that severely restricted movement.

“Sssht. Sssht. Fresh prey.”

A Lizardman flicked its tongue. Unmistakable bloodlust dripped from its rasping voice.

Lizardmen didn’t suffer the swamp’s movement penalty, so they moved far more freely than players.

“Sssht. Dull prey is easy to bring down.”

There were five Lizardmen in total. Their long tongues never stopped tasting the air.

But here’s the thing.

“Looks like you all have the wrong idea.”

Dark crimson mana eroded part of the swamp. It suppressed the mud’s viscosity while strengthening the earth’s natural power. With this much preparation, moving like normal was possible.

I kicked off the hardened mud and charged straight at the pack of Lizardmen. Their eyes widened in shock as they frantically swung their curved blades. I deflected the attacks with my armor and drove my claws into their vital points.

“I don’t care about any of that.”

- You wield that unpleasant power so well.

“I’ve always had a talent for this sort of thing.”

The first Lizardman’s body collapsed. Another let out a startled hiss.

“Already panicking?”

With the first form of the Blood Claw Technique, I tore open the throat of the Lizardman beside it. A fountain of blood sprayed a beat too late. The remaining Lizardmen swung their blades, but the weapons bounced off my armor in a shower of sparks.

My elongated claws drew long arcs through the air, slicing across the Lizardmen’s bodies. Three of them crashed to the ground with deep gouges carved into their torsos.

- How utterly trivial.

“I’m just that strong.”

- Is that not natural for the contractor of this goddess?

I suppose that’s one way to look at it.

I snorted and ran my hand across the Lizardman’s corpse.

- How will you achieve a high score in this mission?

“I need to keep as many of them alive as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠possible.”

- A goal that does not suit you at all.

“Can’t deny that.”

I gave a bitter smile. Being less restricted by the swamp’s movement penalty was a huge advantage—especially since I needed to gather people scattered across the area.

The Guide Boots I’d received as a reward on the eighth floor proved modestly helpful as well.

I operated mana and internal energy at the same time. Trying to layer Greed’s Protection on top of every step made my brain feel like it was melting. It was only thanks to my divine power increasing my mana reaction speed that I could even manage it. Without that, it would have been impossible.

After running for some time, the clash of weapons rang in my ears.

The moment I pricked my ears to locate the source of the noise, a sharp ringing assaulted me. I swallowed a groan. Operating mana, internal energy, and divine protection simultaneously was already taxing. Focusing my hearing on top of that overloaded the part of my brain controlling all those senses.

I stopped using Cloud Flow Steps and took a deep breath.

- Are you all right? Your face has gone deathly pale.

“Just pushed myself a little too hard.”

Handling multiple abilities and senses at once was quite the burden. Once I regulated my breathing, the ringing faded.

The sound of clashing steel mixed with the fading tinnitus. I turned my head, searching for where the battle was taking place.

- The enemy is at four o’clock.

“You heard it too, Goddess?”

- Hehe, you seem to underestimate this goddess’s ears.

Wait. If Nyx could pinpoint the source of the sound, there was no need for me to stop at all.

“Keep telling me the directions from now on.”

- So you wish for this goddess to become your ears.

Nyx let out a strange little laugh.

- Then show the proper sincerity.

“…One more cotton candy.”

- This goddess can feel the overflowing respect in that offering.

If she kept eating only sweets, her teeth would rot. I’d have to find an excuse to reduce her cotton candy ration later.

Following the direction of the noise, I soon spotted a player wielding a long sword struggling to hold out.

“Ugh… At this rate…”

The player groaned. One against five. On top of the numerical disadvantage, the swamp penalty made it impossible to do anything but swing his sword to keep the Lizardmen at bay.

“Sssshhh!”

One Lizardman swung its blade. White currents of air coiled around the edge—Sneaky Strike, a skill that widened wounds dramatically when it hit a vital point.

- If that attack lands, it will be dangerous, will it not?

Obviously. If even one person was eliminated, I couldn’t achieve the perfect record.

In times like these… the skill I’d obtained from the Mimic would shine.

My presence swelled. The Lizardmen’s heads snapped toward me. The distance was fairly large, so the taunt didn’t last long, but buying even a few seconds was enough.

The fireball I launched exploded in the middle of the Lizardman pack.

“Sssht! Dangerous enemy!”

The Lizardmen burst through the black smoke. It seemed one Fireball had been enough for them to realize who the real threat was.

“That’s right. Come at me.”

Swish!

I swung my elongated claws, and blue blood sprayed through the air. After finishing off the last Lizardman, I approached the exhausted player.

“Y-you’re Player Yu Jinho, right?”

“Yes, so head in that direction.”

I pointed back the way I had come. I had already killed every Lizardman I’d encountered on the way here. If his luck held, he would be safe.

“Thank you.”

The long-sword player let out a sigh of relief and staggered away.

There was no time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to rest. Thirty players had entered the ninth floor. If I wanted to save even one more, I had to keep moving.

“I’m going to run at full speed now. Keep giving me directions.”

- Hehe, trust in this goddess.

Nyx puffed out her tiny chest and patted it proudly with her small hands.

Pa-pa-pat!

I activated Full Sprint while using Cloud Flow Steps. Every time my foot left the ground, I used Greed’s Protection to solidify the swamp beneath me.

- Nine o’clock.

At Nyx’s instruction I spun in that direction and spotted a group of players.

I pulled the Lizardmen’s aggro and dove into the fray. As I unleashed every form of the Blood Claw Technique, the Lizardmen toppled like reeds in the wind.

“No way, is that Player Yu Jinho?”

“Whoa, I only saw you on the news! Meeting you here is crazy!”

Every player I encountered while racing across the wetlands recognized me immediately.

- You’ve become quite famous!

“The Black Tiger Team incident must have left a strong impression.”

- Hehehe, behold! This man is the contractor of this goddess!

“I am eternally grateful, Goddess.”

Battles were breaking out sporadically across the swamp. As time passed, the players participating in the mission began gathering in small groups to fend off the Lizardmen attacks.

- A skill that reduces presence. The options seem rather mediocre.

“I told you, there’s no such thing as a useless essence.”

I grinned. I had devoured Lizardman essence in my previous life as well. I already knew exactly what kind of synergy Sneaky Strike could create.

There was no need to think about it. I had already confirmed this combination in my previous life.

“Fuse them.”

“This is exactly what I wanted.”

The corners of my mouth curled upward. It was the perfect skill against enemies like the Iron Armadillo that relied solely on their defense. While it didn’t ignore all defense, it could still inflict massive damage depending on where I struck.

Once I had gathered every player participating in the mission, the rest was smooth sailing.

“Sssht! Prey. They are all gathered in one place.”

“Sssht! Prey. Kill them all.”

The Lizardmen swarmed toward the large group of players.

“Stay back if you value your lives. Otherwise you might die.”

I stepped to the front of the player formation. There was no reason to fear curved blades that couldn’t even pierce my armor.

“Sssht. That human is the only dangerous one. Form ranks and break through.”

Dozens of Lizardmen formed ranks and slowly advanced.

A fiery explosion erupted, followed by pillars of stone that shattered the Lizardmen’s formation. As the creatures fell into chaos, I plunged into their midst and unleashed my martial arts. Their bodies were torn to shreds.

Once the promised six hours had passed:

The highest-record message appeared. It was impossible to break the record on the ninth floor. Since the number of participants was fixed at thirty, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t save thirty-one people.

Still, receiving recognition for the highest record was good enough.

- The reward is a little disappointing.

“It’ll come in handy later.”

There were hidden rewards that could only be obtained if you had a Guardian Stone. It would prove very useful once I reached the nineteenth floor.

- You will challenge the tenth floor immediately, I presume.

“No.”

- Have you grown afraid?

“Goddess, your sense of humor has improved.”

I chuckled and waved my hand dismissively.

“I’ve already challenged twice today. Besides, I need to reach level 50 before I can attempt the tenth floor.”

The promotion match. Every tenth floor served as a gateway to the next rank. It was the crossroads where one either graduated from Unranked and advanced, or stagnated.

- How strange. If you cannot proceed to the next floor, how are you supposed to raise your level…?

“You can repeat floors one through nine as many times as you want.”

- Ah, I see.

Nyx let out a short sound of understanding.

After clearing the ninth floor, I spent my days repeating training and missions.

Then one day—

“Master! Look at this news article!”

Jiyoung rushed over, breathing hard, and showed me an internet article.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Oh ho. I swallowed a laugh.

I’d been wondering how to draw him out, but he had climbed onto the plate all by himself.