Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: End of the Third Trial
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"Hah, this means we should've gotten at least double, right?"
These were Jung Nam-gil's words after the third monster wave ended.
He was spot on.
In the original third Trials' Arena, players had to face more than double the monster waves they'd encountered up until then.
But they were dealing with less than half the monster waves compared to players in other zones.
That was because Hae-jin, soloing the offense, had cut the number of monster waves by more than half.
Kang Hee-soon nodded in agreement at Jung Nam-gil's remark.
"You're right. Impressive. Hunting that many monsters all by himself."
"Impressive, yeah. So if you run into that guy again, don't pick a fight for no reason—just play nice and follow his lead. He's our golden lifeline."
"Got it."
After a brief chat about Park Hae-jin with Kang Hee-soon, Jung Nam-gil looked around.
People were bustling about, treating the injured right after the battle ended and repairing the durability of gear damaged in the intense fight just moments ago.
Preparing for the next monster wave.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere was very different from the early days.
Before the first wave, since the mission was defense, the combat classes had ignored the production classes.
It was somewhat understandable.
To pull off defense, combat players had to risk their lives fighting monsters.
But after the first monster wave, everyone was exhausted, and their gear was in terrible shape, so they realized something.
Without support from production classes, clearing this defense mission wasn't as easy as they'd thought.
Of course, it wasn't impossible.
They could just keep dying and respawning to fight.
That would reset everything.
Truth be told, Jung Nam-gil and Kang Hee-soon couldn't wrap their heads around it.
'Just fight until you die, respawn, and take them down—why bother getting help from production classes and dragging out the battle like that?'
The reason was simple.
They hated the experience of those two words: 'death'.
Even knowing they could respawn now, those who had never died or had only died once found death far from easy.
But for psychopaths like Jung Nam-gil and Kang Hee-soon, death held no terror if respawning was possible—they felt nothing.
They simply couldn't empathize with ordinary people's emotions.
'Die and respawn, and you can block monster waves way more efficiently, right?'
Not to mention, anyone with half a brain knew that in this Trials' Arena, killing as many monsters as possible was key to rewards—even a three-year-old could figure that out.
So why not risk it all to kill as many as possible, die, respawn with reset gear and skills, and keep going?
But everyone was struggling not to die, which they couldn't understand.
Classic lack of empathy from psychopaths.
Meanwhile, the ordinary players were in high spirits.
Having fought through three brutal battles together, they were relying on each other like they hadn't bickered at the start.
Jung Nam-gil couldn't get it, but he decided to let it slide.
After all, only one thing mattered to him.
'No matter what, as long as it helps clear this Trials' Arena. Once it's done, I'll make Park Hae-jin my personal bus driver.'
That was all that counted for Jung Nam-gil.
Finish this Trials' Arena strong, then join Park Hae-jin's party from the next one onward.
He already wanted to team up with the powerful Park Hae-jin, and now he knew Park Hae-jin had exclusive info on the next Trials' Arena.
How could he not want to stick with him in this situation?
With that in mind, Jung Nam-gil spotted it.
"Tch, doesn't feel like we've rested at all, and here it comes already."
The fourth monster wave swarming from far beyond the village entrance.
Seeing it, Jung Nam-gil plastered on a friendly smile and clapped his hands.
Clap clap clap!
"Alright, everyone! Fourth wave incoming. Let's prep for battle!"
"Yes!"
By now, Jung Nam-gil was seen as the leader by the players in this zone.
The defense players responded with enthusiastic cheers.
At their vigorous reply, Jung Nam-gil grinned.
Shiver—.
A thrill of ecstasy that no one else noticed.
He thought to himself.
'In this Trials' Arena, I'll snag Park Hae-jin and become a hero to the other players.'
"Hmm, there it is."
Hae-jin had reached the position of the final monster wave.
And what he saw there.
The final boss monster, an ogre, was present, but that wasn't what Hae-jin was focused on.
He was looking behind the tenth monster wave.
There stood a demon statue.
If the goddess statue was what players had to defend in the village, the offense's goal was that demon statue.
Destroy it to complete the hidden trial.
So maybe thin out the tenth wave a bit and smash the demon statue.
But Hae-jin had no intention of taking out the ogre this time.
'By now, they've probably gotten used to hunting together, so let the other players earn their ogre-related titles.'
He'd taken down the first ogre just in case.
Plus, the early ogre—despite players syncing up over four waves—still killed quite a few.
So Hae-jin planned to let this zone's players adapt through nine waves before tackling the ogre.
"Guess I'll ignore the ogre and thin out the flanks."
The tenth wave had a whopping 10,000 monsters.
Hae-jin planned to cut it in half again.
No sooner thought than done—Hae-jin sprang into action.
He took down monsters on the outskirts of the 10,000-strong horde, steadily reducing their numbers.
Once about half were gone, Hae-jin stopped hunting.
Then he just watched.
The monsters not felled by him heading toward the village to destroy the goddess statue.
The monsters showed no interest in blocking Hae-jin, even with him near the demon statue.
In the end, 5,000 monsters marched toward the village.
Watching them, Hae-jin muttered.
"I'll smash it after they take down the ogre."
The system made it sound like defense alone ended the third Trials' Arena, but destroying the demon statue via offense cleared the hidden trial and ended it too.
That's why Hae-jin deliberately held off on the demon statue.
For this zone's players to earn their ogre titles and achievements.
Watching wasn't hard.
Players gained near-Mongolian-level eyesight upon awakening.
And Hae-jin's current state?
He'd inherited everything from Joo-hyuk, the strongest player and leader.
So even without skills, Hae-jin could clearly see the tenth wave heading to the village.
A while later, he saw the village players finish the ninth wave and rest.
Seeing that, Hae-jin said.
"Nicely resting up. Yeah, this one's gonna be rough, so rest hard."
Soon after, he spotted it.
Players startled at their first sight of the ogre.
In between, Jung Nam-gil directing the battle like a leader.
Watching, Hae-jin smirked.
"Look at Mr. Hero. Enjoy it while you can—that's your last hero playtime."
Hae-jin spectated the players' battle, calling it Jung Nam-gil's final hero act.
Panicked by the unfamiliar ogre but following Jung Nam-gil's orders, they fought quite efficiently.
Nine waves in, their teamwork had improved.
Still, the ogre was powerful.
Unlike Hae-jin, who'd cleaved it in one stroke, the village defenders only chipped away at its health bit by bit—no critical hits like his.
Of course, they weren't doing zero damage.
Jung Nam-gil and Kang Hee-soon unleashed all their skills on the ogre, even dying repeatedly.
If they failed to block it and the goddess statue broke, the Trials' Arena mission failed.
They had no choice but to protect it somehow.
Watching Jung Nam-gil and Kang Hee-soon die and respawn to cycle their skill cooldowns, Hae-jin commented.
"Doing great."
Hae-jin was making full use of Jung Nam-gil and Kang Hee-soon in this Trials' Arena.
He'd halved the monster wave difficulty, but plenty still died and respawned to survive.
With powerhouses like Jung Nam-gil and Kang Hee-soon—second and third in the zone—throwing themselves into defense without mercy, the damage was less than expected.
The two were absorbing most of the damage other players would've taken.
Exactly as Hae-jin wanted.
So Hae-jin watched the players defend the final wave in the village.
And soon enough.
He saw it.
The players felling the ogre, boss of the final monster wave.
Seeing that, Hae-jin turned his gaze.
To the demon statue at the wave's starting point.
"Time to wrap it up?"
The third Trials' Arena ended with either condition.
The revealed mission: defend the goddess statue from monster waves.
The hidden one: destroy the demon statue at the waves' origin.
So even with remaining monsters from the final wave, smashing the demon statue ended it.
Since they'd beaten the ogre, the rest were small fry—not much help for player growth anyway.
With that, Hae-jin lightly swung his sword and shattered the demon statue.
Crack—!
[Third Trial completed.]
[Third Trial completed.]
[Level increased.]
[Third Trial complete.]
[Settling third trial results.]
[Announcing third trial results.]
"Hmm? Monsters are still around, though?"
Jung Nam-gil tilted his head, puzzled that the system declared the third trial complete despite remnants of the final wave.
His eyes then widened at the following ranking announcement.
1st: Park Hae-jin - 27,678 kills
2nd: Supreme Monk - 793 kills
3rd: Kang Jung-gu - 764 kills