Adapting (7)
A low growl rumbled from its snout as a long strand of blood-mixed, unidentifiable liquid stretched and dripped down. The creature had no eyes. Instead, its other sensory organs seemed extraordinarily developed. Even with the glass window and then the wooden wall beyond it, the fact that it could pinpoint the two of them hiding so instantly suggested it might possess some other detection method he didn’t know about.
Kang-jun drew up every scrap of mana he could. One wrong move and the thing could snatch him and crush his skull in its jaws. Of course that might be the ending the gods wanted, but Kang-jun had no desire for such a conclusion. Dying to a monster like this would be humiliating no matter what—especially in his fourth playthrough.
The creature bared its gums for a moment, hissing, then lunged at Kang-jun in a single bound.
Fucking fast…!
The instant he saw its feet slam into the ground he hurled his body sideways with everything he had. The staff room was half-destroyed. Debris rained down on top of the creature. Its massive tail lashed and swept the rubble aside.
Every bit of mana was converted into speed; whatever remained he poured into stamina. His body felt light as air. The mana drain was brutal, but if he played it right he still had a chance of winning.
Kang-jun took one deep breath. The monster charged him again. He moved with ruthless efficiency—slipping past its arm by a hair’s breadth, then smacking the oddly angled tail with the back of his hand to deflect it.
Asura Palm Method
Shattering the creature’s rock-hard exterior with his current strength was impossible. Instead he planned to force qi inside and thrash its internals. A monster would have some resistance, of course, but it still beat punching the thing bare-handed a hundred times over.
A solid thud rocked the monster’s body when the palm technique landed. It immediately swung an arm in counterattack, but Kang-jun had already darted back. Mana kept his speed close enough that he could keep dodging for now, yet he knew he wouldn’t last long.
The palm technique must have done real work—something began surging back up the creature’s throat. Green fluid mixed with the bones and flesh of Lee Hye-ri, whom it had just chewed up. Ordinary civilians would have emptied their stomachs at the sight; Kang-jun, who had seen far worse, felt nothing.
…Fuck. Paralysis fluid.
The sticky liquid coating the monster’s hide clearly contained a nerve-numbing agent. Both arms started to tingle. Sensation drained from his hands.
That was why you never touched a monster’s body if you could help it. He knew that, but right now he had nothing else to hit it with. The wooden sticks scattered around wouldn’t even scratch it.
He had to kill it before it was too late. This time Kang-jun charged. The monster swung. He ducked low, slipping under the arm aimed at his torso. A barrage of tail strikes followed; he twisted and weaved through them. Completing a full spin, he kicked off the floor.
Kang-jun thrust his tingling right arm with everything he had. But the dulled sensation made the strike slower than planned. His hit-and-run strategy fell apart right there.
Shit!
He had intended to use the palm technique’s recoil to spring away, but the move failed. The monster’s tail smashed straight into his torso. He flew into the counter and crashed through the glass display case beside it, tumbling among the cakes. Augh. Pain blanked his mind for a second. Blood streamed from the glass cuts.
His arms were no longer functional. Fuck! Kang-jun clenched his teeth and forced himself upright. He didn’t need to look at the chat. Everyone would be spamming how delighted they were that the previously unstoppable Kang-jun was about to die.
Pouring mana into stamina would restore feeling to his arms, but then his speed would drop and he wouldn’t be able to dodge. Without working arms he couldn’t attack. Perfect deadlock.
Of all places for this fucking monster to show up…!
He had plenty of excuses ready. Facing a creature nearly a hundred levels higher bare-handed was never going to be easy. Even a fourth-playthrough veteran wasn’t some iron egg—just a hard-boiled one at best.
Fuck. The moment death looks real, the excuses start pouring out.
A hollow laugh escaped him. He had charged in so confidently, certain he could win, only to get wrecked beyond expectation.
He should have drawn the fourth dungeon after all. Kang-jun squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe dying here quickly would be better. …Still, the start had been decent enough that the regret lingered.
Just as Kang-jun completely abandoned the will to live, someone streaked in from outside the café like a flash of light and blasted the monster clean away. Huh. He opened his eyes at the commotion. A woman in a bizarre outfit. Someone he knew. …The Magical Girl, Erika.
“I, Erika, will never forgive a monster that harms innocent citizens—!”
She struck a pose right in front of him while muttering the line like a private monologue. …The problem was that this wasn’t an act for her.
That childish magic wand—something little girls would play with—was actually an absurdly powerful weapon. Did she cast spells with it? No. She simply beat monsters to death with it without mercy. Some people even called her the Magic-Wand Executioner.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…No, I’m extremely hurt.”
“I’ll defeat the monster for you!”
Then why did you even ask about the injuries? The Magical Girl said only what she wanted to say and charged the monster, swinging her wand with cute little “yap-yap” cries. Still, her appearance let Kang-jun breathe a sigh of relief. At least his life seemed saved.
Erika might look ridiculous, but she was a proper B-class hero. Ranked somewhere in the middle of the top thirty. Her level was well over two hundred if he remembered right. Naturally the monster stood no chance.
The magic wand mercilessly pulverized the monster
Kang-jun watched and felt a brief urge to die. His current state was more pathetic than this goofy Magical Girl swinging a wand. …He’d only been in the third dungeon for three months, yet the memory of his former glory still made the shame impossible to ignore.
The monster finally died as minced meat. Erika wiped a light sheen of sweat from her forehead and flashed Kang-jun a V-sign with her fingers. With both arms still numb, he could only return an awkward smile.
Erika, covered head to toe in strange fluids, came running over—yet for a Magical Girl she didn’t even know recovery magic. She simply had no talent for that side of things. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been beating monsters to death with a wand like a thug.
Kang-jun had dumped every last drop of mana into stamina and was restoring his paralyzed arms. He could move a little better now.
“How’s your body?”
“Better now, somewhat.”
“You should go to the hospital right away. You’ve got a lot of cuts. …I’ll take you!”
Before he could say it wasn’t necessary, she scooped him up in a princess carry. Hey, you crazy woman! She kicked off the ground, hopped over walls, and reached the zone hospital in an instant.
“It’s Erika!”
Already wildly famous, she drew attention from every direction. She set Kang-jun down in the emergency room, struck a series of poses for the citizens snapping photos on their phones, then vanished again. Wow, she’s even prettier in real life. First time seeing her. Men and women alike adored her.
Kang-jun got only the glass cuts treated and left the hospital at once. He had no intention of wasting precious time on an admission.
Disaster news broke again. All monsters in the 42nd Zone had been eliminated. The three heroes who had performed outstandingly appeared with their photos. One of them was the Magical Girl Erika he had just met.
Kang-jun returned to the café. People were already wandering the streets again one by one. They paused to gawk at the wrecked café as they passed. Soon the manager auntie came running after hearing the chaos. Every business carried disaster insurance, so the financial hit wouldn’t be too bad. …The real problem was that the part-time girl had been eaten by a monster.
“Ugh.”
The manager dry-heaved at the sight of the vomit the monster had left on the floor—chunks of flesh and bone that had once been Lee Hye-ri. She stamped her feet, fretting over what to do.
“You should have gone straight to the shelter!”
“People were already fleeing that way. We had nowhere else, so we came in here.”
“Aigoo, what am I going to do? What am I going to do about this?”
In any case the insurance company would handle it, so Kang-jun tuned out. The part-time job was clearly finished; he resolved to focus entirely on growing his stats.
The manager said the café would probably have to close for about a month. When Kang-jun offered to look for other work, she accepted.
Kang-jun grabbed his bag from the ruined staff room and left the café. A short distance away the streets had already returned to peaceful normalcy as if nothing had happened. People strolled, laughed, and chatted. For a moment Kang-jun felt as though he had merely dreamed it all.
After that he spent a few annoying days. The manager called him because the insurance company needed his testimony. He went to the café and explained everything in detail. Because they hadn’t gone to the shelter, the compensation process was more complicated. Fortunately the Magical Girl herself served as a witness and the matter was settled quickly.
Still, the life-or-death struggle with the monster hadn’t been a complete waste. Erika had delivered the killing blow, yet the system apparently judged that Kang-jun had contributed enough to raise a few of his stats. Speed +1, Stamina +1, Luck +1. He had definitely benefited from the creature’s high level.
And so the season fully shed spring’s clothes and stepped into the blazing heat of summer. It became July of year 129.
While Kang-jun remained buried in training, word finally reached him that the 226th group had arrived. The novel’s protagonist, Gi-su, was among them. The batch also contained a number of particularly promising talents.
Of course the protagonist would drop into the fourth dungeon first, so meeting him was still a long way off. In the meantime Kang-jun planned to sweep up every teammate the guy would have claimed in the third dungeon.
Of course I need the power to match first.
Thanks to endless training and sparring, his stats had risen a little. Growth was slower than hunting monsters, but he still lacked too much to enter the labyrinths yet.
His pure mana value was almost at 20. If he kept grinding the Heavenly Demon Mind Method hard for another three or four months he should hit the cap. First Awakening within half a year had clearly been an impossible goal. One year—yes, set it at one year. With a full year he could crush it easily.
Ogre-nam had also started following Kang-jun’s training methods and was raising his speed rapidly. He would probably be ready for First Awakening soon as well.
He had been so buried in training that the chat had reached the level of outright pleading. At best he only met Park Hae-su on weekends and went out for pocket money at night.
Then, after a long absence, PrettyPrincess appeared. Whenever she showed up she did something pretty.
Following PrettyPrincess’s words, Kang-jun immediately opened the shop window and bought one elixir. Combined with the elixir he had received as a prize from the previous tournament, he now had two. In short, four free stat points were secured. …As long as they didn’t all dump into Luck and Intelligence.
Adding everything he had scraped together earlier by begging, he was back to 107 coupons. Kang-jun bought another elixir with them. Three total now. Six free stat points secured—even if they were random.