Chapter 18
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: A Performance for the Gods
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Swish!
Yuhyeon shot forward, hurtling toward the Skeleton Knight.
The forward momentum added more power to the sword gripped in both his hands.
His center of gravity was fully committed.
This feels completely different from when I was just standing still.
Swordsmanship while in motion was a world apart from swordsmanship practiced in one spot.
Just one step forward completely changed his posture.
It was only a single step, yet the placement of his feet, the angle of his elbows, and the movement of his body all shifted.
In other words, the very trajectory of the sword changed entirely.
But I think I can do this.
That didn't mean the essence of the slash itself had changed.
The perfect form, forged through a thousand slashesthe essence of that swordplay was vividly ingrained in Yuhyeon's body.
Like a skilled musician playing an instrument even while dozing off, his body reacted before his mind could.
He tightened his grip.
Power flooded into his left and right hands gripping the sword.
His once-unsteady body became stable, as if weighted down, and felt as natural as when he executed a perfect slash.
An unprecedented power and density gathered in the blade.
Remember. Everything you've seen until now
He had watched and experienced so many movements.
The scarecrow from special training, Instructor Olsen demonstrating the slashing form, even the skeleton soldiers that had lunged at him from the ground.
The many opponents he had faced were his teaching materials and his mentors.
All he had to do was recall them clearly and execute them.
Whoosh!
You have succeeded with a perfect form, executing a Powerful Slash.
Inflicts 150 additional damage!
Critical Hit!
Inflicts 200 additional damage!
Crack!
You have succeeded in destroying a part!
The Skeleton Knight's helmet has been completely destroyed.
A cacophony of messages and notification windows.
Graaah
The helmetless Skeleton Knight pawed at its bare, white skull.
Within its menacing eye lights, a considerable amount of shock was hidden.
It was as if it were thinking, An outsider shattered my helmet?
Whoosh!
The Skeleton Knight immediately raised its greatsword and twisted its body.
A powerful horizontal slash cut through the air, aimed at his neck.
Fast!
Kiiing.
Yuhyeon gasped and quickly raised his sword to block.
Even though he blocked the attack, the Skeleton Knight's immense brute force broke through his defense.
Your health has decreased by 20.
Yuhyeon's eyes widened.
Hadn't he just blocked that attack? How could the impact be so great?
Nearly 30 of his health had vanished in a single blow.
If he hadn't blocked it, he might have died instantly.
So you're not going to go down easy.
An absurdly powerful attack, fitting for the master of the dungeon.
An extreme situation where failing to block even once meant death.
But as Yuhyeon took out and drank a potion, his face was filled with a smile.
Looks like you've lost your composure.
The Skeleton Knight, which had stood motionless until taking the first hit, was finally starting to move.
And it was doing so while brandishing its greatsword, its eye lights glowing menacingly.
Let's do this.
Yuhyeon held his breath and gripped his sword tightly.
Now that the Skeleton Knight had begun to attack, the fight was back to square one.
From now on, all he had to do was what he did best.
Claaang!
Yuhyeon's sword met the Skeleton Knight's greatsword.
.
.
.
How much time had passed since then?
Hah, hah
A sticky liquid trickled down his iron sword.
A thick mixture of blood and sweat.
Blocking, parrying, slashingit had been an hour already.
Enough time had passed that it wouldn't have been strange for one of them to fall, yet no one had.
The battle was that fierce and desperate.
He tightened his grip.
Yuhyeon gripped his sword tightly.
He was in a state where he could collapse at any moment, but the light in his eyes shone even brighter.
Determination. It was determination.
A powerful resolve not to give up until he emerged the victor was embedded in his gaze.
Screeech!
Yuhyeon's lowest-grade iron sword slashed upward, scraping against the Skeleton Knight's armor.
After clashing with the greatsword time and again, the iron sword's edge was chipped and incredibly dull.
It looked as if it could break at any moment, its durability completely depleted.
Guh.
The same was true for the Skeleton Knight.
After continuously taking Yuhyeon's counters, its plate armor was also in tatters, a far cry from its original state.
By now, it knew. Perhaps Yuhyeon wasn't just some run-of-the-mill outsider, but a slayer who might actually kill it.
Even a skeleton without intellect could understand that much.
Hah, hah
Yuhyeon skillfully downed a potion and let out a ragged breath.
Beside him lay a pile of empty potion bottles he had discarded.
He rummaged through his inventory; not a single potion remained.
He had used up all forty of those potions.
No potions left, and my health is only at half.
He had learned several things while fighting the Skeleton Knight.
Just as he was deciphering the monster's patterns, the monster was also learning his.
As the battle wore on, the Skeleton Knight began to create more unpredictable patterns.
At first, it only used horizontal slashes, but soon it was slashing from various angles.
It even started using the strength of its plate armor to block Yuhyeon's sword with one arm while attacking with its fist.
Perhaps because it was a top-tier elite monster, but as time went on, it was the monster, not Yuhyeon, that seemed to be growing stronger.
Lowest-Grade Iron Sword (Common)
Description: A crude iron sword made from low-grade iron ore. Suitable for beginner adventurers.
Durability: 130
That was understandable, as the durability of Yuhyeon's iron sword was almost gone.
It looked like it would break after blocking one or two more attacks.
In other words, he had few opportunities left to attack.
I have to end this with the next strike. No matter what.
Yuhyeon and the Skeleton Knight stared each other down, maintaining their distance.
Yet Yuhyeon didn't move.
Even though he had to make use of his one remaining chance, for some reason, he remained still.
Shwing!
Thanks to that, the Skeleton Knight seized the opportunity and attacked first.
The sound of its greatsword, gripped tightly in both hands, slicing through the air echoed throughout the dungeon.
Yuhyeon raised his sword and blocked the attack once more.
Crack!
At that moment, an ominous sound was heard.
Tiring!
The durability of the Lowest-Grade Iron Sword has been depleted.
Under the Skeleton Knight's tremendous power, the sword's durability ran out, and its tip snapped off.
Seeing his drastically shortened reach, the Skeleton Knight clacked its teeth as if in joy and approached Yuhyeon.
It was a look of certain victory.
Thud!
The skeleton, which had been so stubbornly maintaining its distance, now stepped into Yuhyeon's range.
With the sword broken and his reach shortened, it could now advance more boldly.
Grrr.
It, too, had instinctively sensed it.
That now, with the sword broken, was the perfect chance to take the outsider's head.
Whooosh!
The Skeleton Knight raised both its hands high.
It intended to bring the sword down and cleave Yuhyeon in two.
Hoo
But Yuhyeon's demeanor was calm.
Though the blade descending upon him glinted above his head, it was as if he couldn't see it at all.
He even went so far as to close his eyes.
Grrrr!
Closing his eyes in the middle of a battle? Wasn't that the action of someone who had given up?
The Skeleton Knight's menacing eye lights shone brightly.
It was certain it could cut down the outsider in a single blow.
Just as its greatsword swung fiercely toward Yuhyeon's neck.
Hoo.
Yuhyeon closed his eyes and assumed a middle guard stance.
And he imagined deeply. This wasn't a dungeon, but the training ground where he had always stood.
The moment he pictured it, his five senses sharpened, and time slowed to a crawl.
Shing.
Yuhyeon adopted the same form and performed the same motion as when he swung his sword at the scarecrow in the training ground.
He swung the sword with the movement that was now completely engraved upon his body.
It had long since surpassed that of a skilled swordsman.
It was like that of Olsen, who had dedicated his entire life to the sword.
Shaaa-!
And a single flash of light shot out, grazing past the Skeleton Knight's neck.
I was waiting for you to come into this range.
Crack!
For a moment, it seemed as though a crack was forming on the Skeleton Knight's neck.
Thud Thump, thump, roll.
The Skeleton Knight's fading eye lights were filled with shock.
It was a look of utter confusion, not understanding what had just happened.
The range shouldn't have been enough
You have succeeded with a perfect form, executing a Powerful Slash.
Inflicts 150 additional damage!
Yuhyeon recalled the trajectory of his slash.
He could clearly see the invisible energy that had shimmered over the broken blade, like Olsen's aura.
It was one of the effects of a perfect slash. The effect that increased his attack range by 30.
With that effect applied to the broken sword, he was able to strike the Skeleton Knight's neck with his original range.
Thanks to never having used the range-increasing attack until this very moment, he was able to create a decisive move.
Tiring!
You have defeated the elite monster Skeleton Knight.
You have defeated a stronger foe and will gain a large amount of experience.
You have leveled up.
You have leveled up.
.
.
.
Achievement Unlocked!
You have succeeded in defeating an elite monster solo as a beginner.
This is a dazzling achievement!
As a reward for this achievement, all stats except Divinity and Charm will increase by 3.
A flood of messages and achievement notifications poured in.
The fact that it wasn't a 'First' achievement meant that someone else had also defeated an elite monster at a beginner's level.
But to Yuhyeon right now, that wasn't very important.
It was a perfect slash.
His clenched fist was still trembling.
He had succeeded in executing the absolute best slash he was capable of.
And in an extreme situation, he was the one left standing at the very end.
That was all that mattered.
I did it.
Yuhyeon savored the joy.
The battle had been more intense than any other, and the resulting catharsis was just as great.
After enjoying the thrill for a moment, Yuhyeon composed his breathing and looked around.
I wonder what the reward will be.
He had heard that since elite monsters were dozens of times stronger than normal ones, their rewards were also far superior.
The time had come to receive the sweet fruit of his hard-earned labor.
As he placed his hand on the Skeleton Knight's corpse, a golden light shimmered in his palm.
Tiring!
You have acquired the Skeleton Knight's Ring (Epic).
Level Requirement: 10
Max Health 100
Attack Speed 5
Critical Hit 2
Special Effect: Increases Strength by 10 of your total Strength stat (2).
Description: A ring that holds the mighty power of a Skeleton Knight. Before its overwhelming brute force, enemies will be forced to their knees.
Epic!
Yuhyeon's eyes widened like saucers as he read the description.
Epic was the rank just below Unique. He had obtained an item two tiers higher than his lowest-grade iron sword.
Recalling how Sangcheol had hunted like a madman just to get a Rare item, he could immediately grasp how valuable this was.
It's a scaling item, isn't it?
The ring's effect nearly doubled his max health in an instant.
Moreover, it wasn't a flat stat bonus but a proportional one.
This meant that as Yuhyeon grew, the stat bonus would also increase.
I remember hearing that the sword Hwarang used was also a scaling item.
Epic-grade items sold for at least a million won on the auction house, so he could always sell it after using it for a while.
It was a moment where he received a reward truly befitting the name 'The First Dungeon'.
Yuhyeon clenched his fist in joy.
The hard work paid off.
Soon, Yuhyeon turned his head and looked around.
According to his research, instance dungeons were structured so that an exit would automatically open once the boss was defeated.
That meant an exit out of the dungeon should have appeared now that he had defeated the Skeleton Knight.
But the inside of the dungeon was far too quiet.
Just as he was wondering if there was something left unfinished.
Shaaaa.
A brilliant light shone down into the dungeon.
Soon, the darkness that had consumed the interior vanished completely, and the bright light began to reveal everything inside.
Hmm?
Yuhyeon's eyes narrowed.
In the distance, something large was standing there.
At a glance, it looked like a human figure.
What is that?
Don't tell me there's another boss monster. My sword's durability is completely gone.
As he cautiously approached, he was finally able to identify it.
A statue?
It was a sculpture carved from stone.
A statue of a man holding a violin between his chin and shoulder, a magnificent cape draped over his back.
Yuhyeon instinctively knew that this was the Conductor of Melody.
Is this the bard the elder mentioned?
Beside the statue was a stone tablet.
On the tablet were inscribed the words: 'O thou who hast reached the divine, offer a performance for the gods.'
Offer a performance for the gods
And the moment Yuhyeon repeated the words on the tablet as if possessed.
Tiring!
A quest window appeared.
Chain Quest: Path of the Conductor (1)
Trial 1: Clear the Deep Forest Dungeon (within 24 hours of accepting the quest)
Trial 2: ???
With a soft shhh sound, the quest's details began to change.
It was as if someone were quickly rewriting it with a pencil.
Soon, the quest content hidden by question marks was updated.
Trial 1: Clear the Deep Forest Dungeon (Complete)
Trial 2: Offer a performance for the gods (In Progress)
Failure will result in the inability to change to the Conductor of Melody class.
Offer a performance for the gods?
At that moment, Yuhyeon's gaze turned to the violin held by the statue.